Patient Care Imrovement with Psychology

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Overview of the Article

The article that is going to be reviewed in this paper is dedicated to improving patient care in intensive care units not only from a physical but from a psychological perspective as well. It puts forth the importance of attending to a patient’s needs beyond the first two steps of the pyramid of Maslow (McLeod, 2014). It suggests shifting the focus from merely ensuring the patient’s survival, towards attending to their psychological needs, which may appear during long times of sedation and immobilization. This claim is supported by the evidence presented in numerous studies. Additionally, general ideas are being given as to how the quality of patient care could be improved.

Level of Evidence Used in the Research

Evidence used in creating the reviewed article is ample and extensive. There are numerous level V sources, which are systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies performed by numerous professionals in both the intensive care field and psychology (Nursing Resources, 2016). There are several level II sources, which are randomized control trials. Since the purpose of the article was “to refresh the way we look at patients in the ICU” (Jackson et al., 2014, p. 438), the amount of evidence used is more than enough to state a case.

Target Audience

The article was published in the Journal of Critical Care, which is a journal specializing in addressing medical issues and providing information regarding the latest researches and trends in medicine. This suggests the target audience of the article being medical workers, students, and people who have an interest in medicine. The Journal is distributed by Elsevier, which is located in the Netherlands. However, a lot of evidence used to support the article’s thesis is taken from sources written in the USA, such as the randomized control trials and statistics. It suggests that the article is aimed at medical workers in the US. However, the subject of the study is universal and could be applied anywhere.

Was the Information Easy to Understand?

The language of the paper is relatively easy to understand. The text is written lively and does not indulge in unnecessary formulaic language that many scientific articles tend to favor. It allows for better reading and understanding of the material. However, at the same time, the authors did not overly simplify the text and kept all the required terminology.

Three Interesting Facts Learned from the Article

The first interesting fact that I have learned from this article was that the survivorship from the acute respiratory distress syndrome and mechanical ventilation has doubled from 40% in the 1990s to 80% in 2010 (Jackson et al., 2014, p. 438). I never imagined that the rate of survival for such a standard procedure was that low.

The second interesting fact was that the medical community in the US was very slow in adopting these new ideas (Jackson et al., 2014, p. 439). It is odd since medicine has always been the first to adopt the newest practices in the field.

The third interesting fact was the result of a pilot investigation known as RETURN, which was focusing on helping the patient return to everyday tasks. The results of the project were positive, as Tower Tests (Marchegiani, Giannelli, & Odetti, 2010, p. 8) have shown a significant improvement over the control group (Jackson et al., 2014, p. 441).

Implementation of the Information in Clinical Practice

The article does not provide many methods in order to apply the concept in clinical practice, as this was not the purpose of the paper. However, it does provide very basic material for building connections between psychology and crucial care, illustrated in a table (Jackson et al., 2014, p. 441). The table provides possible psychological solutions to typical patient problems. These solutions could be implemented in clinical practice.

Would you recommend this article to the other students?

The article provides valuable and interesting information. It would serve as a great introduction to the purpose of psychology in clinical care. The language of the article is easy to understand, and the subject is well-supported with evidence. I would recommend the article not only to other students but also to the doctors and nurses employed in the ICU.

How could this article be improved?

The article could use more information regarding possible clinical practices. However, the information provided is rather basic. Adding more case-by-case scenarios, along with descriptions of what kind of psychological aid has been administered, would support the article’s thesis better.

Did the article make you want to find out more about the subject?

Yes, it did. The purpose of the article was not to provide in-depth information about the improvement of patient care through the prism of psychology, but to serve as an overview, to capture a reader’s attention and sparkle their interest towards the subject.

Conclusion

The article promotes evolution of the intensive care practices from being primarily preoccupied with saving a patient’s life, towards helping the patient return to normal activities, both physically and psychologically. This shift is necessary for the improvement of patient care worldwide.

References

Jackson, J. C., Santoro, M. J., Ely, T. M., Boehm, L., Kiehl, A. L., Anderson, L. S., & Ely, E. W. (2014). Improving Patient Care Through the Prism of Psychology: Application of Maslow’s Hierarchy to Sedation, Delirium, and Early Mobility in the Intensive Care Unit. Journal of Critical Care, 29(1), 438-444.

Marchegiani, A., Giannelli M. V., & Odetti P. R. (2010). The Tower of London Test: A Test for Dementia. Aging Mental Health, 14(2), 8-155.

McLeod, S. (2014).Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Web.

Nursing Resources: Levels of Evidence. (2016). Web.

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