Critical Care Scenarios

Understanding the various needles in your central line kit, how to get really, really good at ultrasound guidance, what to do when your view stinks, and more needle-related tips.

Discussing pleural effusions in the critically ill, including how and when to drain them, methods of drainage, interpreting laboratory studies, and managing complications, with Dr. Emily Fridenmaker (@emily_fri), pulmonologist and intensivist at Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia. Continuing education for this episode CME credit provided courtesy of Academic CME. To claim your CME … Continue reading "Episode 52: Pleural effusions in the ICU with Emily Fridenmaker"

Ensuring patient and operator safety with Seldinger guidewires, with considerations such as losing wires, transecting them, and perforating vessels.

Brandon and Bryan chat about tricks and methods of increasing efficiency and getting things done at work.

A deep dive into dilation during Seldinger techniques, such as central line placement: tips, pitfalls, and pearls.

We explore the controversial area of using hypertonic saline to support hemodynamics, protect the kidneys, and facilitate diuresis in the critically ill patient. Our guest is Dr. Sean Barnett, hypertonic aficionado and nephrologist with a focus in critical care. Takeaway lessons The furosemide stress test in the shocked patient is a useful means to assess … Continue reading "Episode 51: Resuscitating and deresuscitating with hypertonic saline, with Sean Barnett"

Ruminations on nursing post-nominals, understated wealth, and how it’s easiest to not show your power when you already plenty of it.

Continuing the discussion from last Lightning Rounds about presenting at conferences, Brandon and Bryan chat about writing for peer-reviewed journals: why, how, and the process from choosing co-authors to choosing journals to navigating the submission.

How do PAs and other APPs compare with physicians in the clinical context?

We look at the rib fracture patient requiring ICU admission, including a discussion of surgical repair, with Dr. Ron Barbosa (@rbarbosa91), Portland trauma surgeon and SICU director at Legacy Emmanual Medical Center. Takeaway lessons Algorithms and protocols for admitting disposition exist but are generally poorly predictive. ICU admission in rib fracture patients is still most … Continue reading "Episode 50: Rib fractures and surgical plating with Ron Barbosa"