NSG 502

Sedation Practice in Critical Care

SEDATION PRACTICE IN CRITICAL CARE

The Department of Health (DoH), 2011 published statistics derived from a bi-annual census of adult critical care beds in The United Kingdom. The results show that on the census day 2,075 intensive care beds were occupied by level 3 patients, defined by The Comprehensive Critical Care document (DoH, 2000) as 'patients who need advance/basic respiratory support and other organ support and complex care for multi organ failure'. Due to the complexity of patient's illnesses at this level in a critical care setting (DoH, 2000) most patients who require sedation, defined as a 'drug -induced depression of the level of consciousness.' (The British Society of Gastroenterology, 2003), are often ventilated via an...