SCCM Podcast

From the earliest days of critical care medicine, the importance of measuring cardiac output and hemodynamic monitoring were recognized in understanding the physiology of critically ill patients, especially those in shock. However, methods for measuring cardiac output were cumbersome or not widely available. Ashish K. Khanna, MD, FCCP, FCCM, is joined by Margaret M. Parker, MD, MCCM, to discuss the evolution of the pulmonary artery catheter in critically ill patients, as discussed in "The Story of the Pulmonary Artery Catheter: Five Decades in Critical Care Medicine," published in the February issue of Critical Care Medicine (Parker M et al. Crit Care Med. 2023;51:159-163). Dr. Parker is professor emeritus of pediatrics at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in Stony Brook, New York, USA.

Discovery, the Critical Care Research Network, is an SCCM program that aims to expand research and improve outcomes. Discovery has launched the Data Science Campaign to leverage large-scale (big) data for research, seeking to apply these data in a clinical environment through standardized models and shared resources. Kyle B. Enfield, MD, FSHEA, FCCM, was joined by J. Perren Cobb, MD, FACS, FCCM, and Karin Reuter-Rice, PhD, NP, FAAN, FCCM, at SCCM's 2023 Critical Care Congress to discuss the future of data science and critical care research.

Intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians pride themselves on their ability to care for others, even at the expense of caring for themselves. Kyle B. Enfield, MD, FSHEA, FCCM, was joined by Emily K. Valcin, DNP, RN, FCCM, during SCCM’s 2023 Critical Care Congress to discuss ICU clinician well-being and the importance of self-care.

Healthcare professionals who want to make a job change often do not know how to go about it. Impending job searches seem daunting. Ludwig Lin, MD, was joined by Mojdeh Heavner, PharmD, BCCCP, BCPS, FCCM, during SCCM's 2023 Critical Care Congress to discuss the dos and don'ts of changing jobs mid-career.

Confident, well-rounded leaders can increase the efficiency of their critical care unit, improve the performance of their teams, and ultimately achieve better patient outcomes. Marilyn Bulloch, PharmD, BCPS, FCCM, was joined by Judith Jacobi, PharmD, BCCCP, MCCM, during SCCM’s 2023 Critical Care Congress to discuss how the new Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (LEAD) Committee will engage participants in a variety of didactic and small-group sessions to facilitate their progress as mentors, managers, leaders of trainees, coworkers, critical care teams, volunteers, and future leaders within SCCM.

Diagnostic delays and errors are significant contributors to patient illness, injury, and death in the United States. According to the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, diagnostic errors impact nearly 12 million Americans every year, leading to prolonged hospital stays, increased nonreimbursed healthcare costs, and even more harm when combined with other medical errors. Maureen Madden, DNP, RN, CPNP-AC, CCRN, FCCM, is joined by Mary Jo C. Grant, ACNP, PhD, FAAN, to discuss how to reduce diagnostic delays and errors, with an emphasis on sepsis. This podcast is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through a grant program administered by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. 0.5 hours of accredited continuing education credit is available for this podcast through March 31, 2024. Visit sccm.org/store and search the podcast name to find details.

The contribution of adverse events to the deaths of patients in the pediatric ICU (PICU) who die despite a low predicted mortality risk is unknown. Elizabeth H. Mack, MD, MS, FCCM, is joined by Carin W. Verlaat, MD, to discuss adverse events in low-risk nonsurvivors compared with low-risk survivors and high-risk PICU survivors and nonsurvivors and the contribution of adverse events to mortality. The podcast centers around the article, Adverse Events in Pediatric Critical Care Nonsurvivors With a Low Predicted Mortality Risk: A Multicenter Case Control Study (Verlaat C, et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023;24:4-16). Dr. Verlaat is a pediatric intensivist at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Bloodstream infections (BSIs) acquired in the ICU are potentially preventable. Kyle B. Enfield, MD, FSHEA, FCCM, is joined by Sameer S. Kadri-Rodriguez, MD, MS, to discuss the article, Epidemiology of ICU-Onset Bloodstream Infection: Prevalence, Pathogens, and Risk Factors Among 150,948 ICU Patients at 85 U.S. Hospitals, (Gouel-Cheron A, et al. Crit Care Med. 2022;50:1725-1736). Dr. Kadri-Rodriguez is a critical care and infectious diseases physician at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. This podcast is sponsored by Sound Physicians.

Although only a small number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 present with a secondary bacterial pneumonia, a large percentage are unnecessarily treated with antibiotics. Pamela M. Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, FACSM, is joined by George Sakoulas, MD, to discuss how physicians and hospitalists can identify when antibiotics are unnecessary for hospitalized patients with moderate to severe respiratory infections. Dr. Sakoulas is chief of infectious disease at Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group in San Diego, California, and an adjunct professor in the Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics Center for Immunity, Infection, and Inflammation at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine in La Jolla, California. This podcast is sponsored by bioMérieux.

Todd Fraser, MD, speaks with Rinaldo Bellomo, MD, MBBS, FRACP, FCICM, FAAHMS, about the article Outcomes in Patients with Vasodilatory Shock and Renal Replacement Therapy Treated with Intravenous Angiotensin II

Todd Fraser, MD, speaks with John D. Santamaria, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FCICM, FCCP, about the article: Increasing the Number of Medical Emergency Calls Does Not Improve Hospital Mortality

Kyle B. Enfield, MD, and Kimberley J. Haines, PhD, BHSc, discuss implementing post-ICU clinics and peer support groups following critical illness to help reduce the burden of post-intensive care syndrome.

As a proof of concept, a recurrent neural network (RNN) model was developed using electronic medical record (EMR) data capable of continuously assessing a child's risk of mortality throughout an ICU stay as a proxy measure of illness severity.

This webcast will be a comparative analysis of conventional heparin-versus bivalirudin-based systemic anticoagulation in adult and pediatric patients supported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

The increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs) has inspired the need for a more dynamic checklist. Geva et al conducted a before-after quality improvement study by replacing a static checklist with an updated dynamic checklist.

When should clinicians intubate preterm infants? The answer is not always straightforward, according to podcast guest Deepak Jain, MD, FAAP. He and host Pamela M. Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, FACSM, discuss strategies that optimize noninvasive ventilation and when such strategies are appropriate.

Healthcare workload has emerged as an important metric associated with poor outcomes. To measure workload, studies have used bed occupancy as a surrogate. However, few studies have examined frontline clinician workload and outcomes.

In the ICU, medical staff do all they can to assist patients and get them back to health as quickly as possible. In the process of saving lives, bedside manner and communication may suffer. Host Elizabeth H. Mack, MD, MS, FCCM, is joined by Lauren Rissman, MD, to discuss the eye-opening experience Dr. Rissman had when she was admitted to the ICU from the labor and delivery unit and the importance of having a patient advocate.

Since the publication of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines, the focus has been on sepsis management, early identification, and treatment. (Evans L, et al. Crit Care Med. 2021;49:e1063-e1143). As more patients are surviving sepsis, they may be left with short- and long-term problems that need to be addressed. Host Ludwig H. Lin, MD, is joined by Christa A. Schorr, DNP, MSN, RN, FCCM, to discuss the implementation of initiatives for preventing impairments due to sepsis. They will also discuss the challenges faced by survivors of sepsis and the difficulties of matching care to the patient's and family's goals of care.

In this podcast, host Kyle B. Enfield, MD, FSHEA, FCCM, is joined by Samuel K. McGowan, MD, to discuss a systematic review that found significant differences in care and outcomes, including mortality rates, among intensive care unit (ICU) patients of different races (McGowan S, et al. Crit Care Med. 2022 Jan;50:1-20). Dr. McGowan is a first-year fellow in pulmonary and critical care at University of California in San Francisco, California, USA. This podcast is sponsored by Sound Physicians.