Literature Review
Cardiac care in hospital settings faces multifaceted challenges in managing acute cardiac patients. One of the significant obstacles is that acute cardiac illnesses are highly time-sensitive. Every minute matters. These delays in diagnosis and treatment are a severe blow to healthcare outcomes. In addition, most cardiac diseases (myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, and heart failure) are highly complex conditions requiring exceptional understanding to treat. These problems are compounded by the need for more skilled medical personnel, especially cardiologists and specialized specialist nurses. Hence, cardiac care services have a demand-side and supply-side imbalance. This usually leads to overcrowded emergency wards and delays in referring patients to specialist cardiac care units, adversely affecting treatment quality.
Multifaceted challenges mark the contemporary landscape of cardiac care in hospital settings. Despite advances in modern medical science, acute cardiac patients are still challenging to treat. Delayed treatment, inadequate stratification of risk factors, and the nature of comorbid conditions are also impediments. Hanna et al. (2020) note that such delays in intervention can adversely affect patient outcomes. Thus, it would be best expedited as quickly and simply as possible. Besides these technical issues, Miro et al. (2022) also identify significant shortcomings in risk stratification of acute cardiac patients associated with the current assessment techniques. This points to the need for more effective tools to assess risk and more individualized patient profiles. On the other hand, evolving cardiac care also presents new challenges to the aging population and increasing comorbidities. The challenges of treating and researching these patients are obvious.
Cardiac patients require special treatment. Most cardiac ailments are treated by undergoing angioplasty, heart catheterization, or even open-heart surgery. They also require specialized facilities, equipment, and personnel skilled in cardiovascular medicine. For instance, the established units for particular medical fields, such as cardiology, have proven successful in terms of patients. However, this study by Dhala et al. also revealed the effects of specialty care on reducing cardiac mortality and increasing long-term survival rates (Dhala 2015a). This, however, also indicates the necessity of establishing appropriate specialized units with specially trained personnel and facilities.
Specialized cardiac care units, like the ICU at Piedmont Rockdale Hospital, are designed to provide a higher level of monitoring and support, ensuring patients receive the appropriate interventions promptly. Introducing new technologies (like continuous telemetry monitoring and hemodynamic monitoring) makes it even more affirming to identify cardiac problems quickly. Mohamad et al. (2023) also stress the personalized nature of interventions and that they should be adjusted according to characteristics such as age or comorbidities and whether patients have responded well previously to any given drug treatment. Such factors need to be factored into individualized care plans, which will help promote more person-centered cardiac medicine.
The joys and sorrows of life Multidisciplinary cooperation means combining the skills of various professional healthcare providers to ensure that patients receive a comprehensive, holistic service. Working in such collaboration is a form of multidisciplinary work that integrates different specialties to understand better and provide patients with care (Taberna et al., 2020). It is precious in cardiac treatment, which frequently involves several specialists. The importance of multidisciplinary cooperation is emphasized by its effect on patient outcomes and the quality of care. According to Prasad et al. (2019), this collective transfer of knowledge and experience unites medical professionals on a deeper level, providing them with an even better picture of how best to treat their patients.
Thus, there must be practical cooperation between the nursing staff, doctors, and other personnel involved in caring for patients. How can the mutual benefits of increased communication and cooperation by healthcare workers be achieved? More excellent cooperation results in fewer medical malpractices, greater patient satisfaction, and more efficient delivery of care (Jannet et al., 2020). She noted that when healthcare professionals work together, their combined expertise can be brought to bear on even the most complex cardiac cases. In addition to the references to earlier works, Kunduru (2023) further discusses interdisciplinary collaboration and its contributions toward building a culture of responsibility for results.
Communication and Coordination in the ICU
Communication gaps within the ICU setting pose a significant threat to patient outcomes. Kwame et al. (2020) point out how the failure of communication leads to trouble, including misdiagnoses and treatment delays with the potential for patient injury or death. In cardiac care, where time is of the essence, these gaps can be extremely harmful. In addition, several studies have explored the effects of poor communication and pointed out that it has implications for the treatment given to patients at a specific moment and may even cause changes in long-term morbidity and mortality rates. By understanding which parts of communication are affected, we can introduce appropriate measures to address these shortcomings (Ahmed et al., 2023). He feels that the digital age has brought risks and benefits to healthcare communications. EHRs can also boost information sharing and coordination among healthcare providers. However, their introduction has created several problems regarding data security and adherence to standards, making it clear that balance is the key to technology integration.
It is only with specific strategies that communication gaps can be filled within the ICU. Lane et al. (2020) argue that standardized communication protocols should also be developed and implemented. Through standardization, professionals can communicate with one another more clearly and efficiently to eliminate reasons for misunderstanding along the way. Additionally, this study investigates what part interdisciplinary training programs can play in promoting better communication in the ICU. These programs help each healthcare worker comprehend the role of others and encourage mutual decision-making. Furthermore, the use of technical aids in communication has also proved effective in breaking down barriers between communicators inside the ICU. The plans for developing the Capstone Project at Piedmont Rockdale Hospital will have to address the unique kinds of communication difficulties that they deal with in their ICU.
Standardization in Healthcare
Standardization in healthcare involves developing and implementing standardized protocols and processes to ensure consistency and quality in patient care. However, standardization in practice should ideally reduce the variation and ensure that evidence-based practices are used. Standardized executive orders help maintain the quality and evenness of care while reducing errors. Lane et al. (2019) point out that standardization will improve patient safety and outcomes. Uniform, systematic procedures promote a spirit of responsibility and appropriate conduct.
The practicum proposed at the Piedmont Rockdale Hospital is designed to address these problems, as discovered in my literature review. Yet Piedmont Rockdale’s ICU, despite being the best hospital for cardiovascular medicine in its region, has acknowledged coordination and communication shortcomings. These gaps hinder the seamless provision of medical treatment, potentially compromising outcomes for individuals with cardiac conditions.: The fourth project aims to achieve a coordinated and patient-centric approach by promoting effective communication among medical team members, nurses, and other professionals. This is in keeping with the literature upholding teamwork as an essential mechanism for meeting cardiac patients ‘needs. The project will, therefore, standardize Cardiac Care Services’ operational protocols, providing a structural mechanism for information sharing, planning care, and decision-making. This reflects the literature on reducing variations and increased practice quality resulting from standardization. Will the results of more multidisciplinary cooperation be reflected in fundamental performance indicators such as patient satisfaction, readmission rate, and length of stay? This gels with the literature that attaches importance to multidisciplinary cooperation and patient outcomes.
In summary, the literature review has given us an understanding of where we stand now in providing cardiac care in the hospital environment. The difficulties in caring for acute patients have been addressed, as well as objectives such as how specialization benefits treatment, whether integrated medical coordination is essential or not and how communication gaps created by differences between health-providing fields may be reduced; how standard This planned Capstone Project at the ICU of Piedmont Rockdale Hospital if completed will address these challenges and help improve patient outcomes by better coordinating multidisciplinary practice, communication and use of protocols. It provides a solid basis for evidence-based practice to improve cardiac care by contextualizing the proposed project within appropriate neighboring literature.
References
Ahmed, S. A. E. M., & Gaballah, S. (2023). Conflict and communication gap among the critical care nurses during care of patients with COVID-19. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 18, 100499.
Dhala, A., Fusaro, M. V., Uddin, F., Tuazon, D., Klahn, S., Schwartz, R., … & Masud, F. (2023). Integrating a virtual ICU with cardiac and cardiovascular ICUs: managing the needs of a complex and high-acuity specialty ICU cohort. Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal, 19(4), 4.
Hanna, T. P., King, W. D., Thibodeau, S., Jalink, M., Paulin, G. A., Harvey-Jones, E., … & Aggarwal, A. (2020). Mortality due to cancer treatment delay: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 371.
Janett, R. S., & Yeracaris, P. P. (2020). Electronic Medical Records in the American Health System: challenges and lessons learned. Ciencia & saude coletiva, 25, 1293-1304.
Kwame, A., & Petrucka, P. M. (2020). Communication in nurse-patient interaction in healthcare settings in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review. International Journal of Africa nursing sciences, 12, 100198.
Kunduru, A. R. (2023). Cloud BPM Application (Appian) Robotic Process Automation Capabilities. Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science, 16(3), 267-280.
Lane-Fall, M. B., Pascual, J. L., Peifer, H. G., Di Taranti, L. J., Collard, M. L., Jablonski, J., … & HATRICC study team. (2020). A partially structured postoperative handoff protocol improves communication in 2 mixed surgical intensive care units: findings from the handoffs and transitions in critical care (HATRICC) prospective cohort study. Annals of Surgery, 271(3), 484-493.
Mohamad, T., Jyotsna, F. N. U., Farooq, U., Fatima, A., Kar, I., Khuwaja, S., … & Muzammil, M. A. (2023). Individualizing medicinal therapy post heart stent implantation: tailoring for patient factors. Cureus, 15(8).
Prasad, M., Manjunath, C., Murthy, A. K., Sampath, A., Jaiswal, S., & Mohapatra, A. (2019). Integration of oral health into primary health care: A systematic review. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 8(6), 1838.
Taberna, M., Gil Moncayo, F., Jané-Salas, E., Antonio, M., Arribas, L., Vilajosana, E., … & Mesía, R. (2020). The multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach and quality of care. Frontiers in oncology, 10, 85.
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