cVSM demonstrated detection of early signs of patient deterioration to prevent FTR.

Failure to rescue, or the unexpected death of a patient due to a preventable complication, is a nationally documented problem with numerous and multifaceted contributing factors. These factors include the frequency and method of collecting vital sign data, response to abnormal vital signs, and delays in the escalation of care for general ward patients who are showing signs of clinical deterioration. Patients' clinical deterioration can be complicated by concurrent secondary factors, including opioid abuse/dependence, being uninsured, or having sleep-disordered breathing. Using the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model, this integrative review synthesizes 43 research and nonresearch sources of evidence. Published between 2001 and 2017, these sources of evidence focus on failure to rescue, the multifaceted contributing factors to failure to rescue, and how continuous vital sign monitoring could ameliorate failure to rescue and its causes. Recommendations from the sources of evidence have been divided into system, structural, or technological categories.

Sternal wound infections after cardiac surgery are infrequent yet serious complications for patients. Currently, there is no standardized approach to wound management once an infection occurs. Negative pressure therapy has shown some promising results in treating these wounds. The physiology of wound healing suggests that negative pressure therapy increases granulation and epithelialization in the patient's wound bed, which decreases the patient's healing time and pain, length of stay in the hospital, and cost of treating the infected sternal wound. Negative pressure therapy has been used in various wound types, but experimental research on sternal wound healing is limited. The purposes of this literature review are to summarize the significant findings of existing research on this issue and to suggest where further research is needed. To help ensure that care is based on the best evidence, future research should include the patient outcomes of healing time, length of stay, pain, and cost.

No abstract