Critical Matters

In this episode, Dr. Zanotti discusses the delicate balance of conflict resolution in healthcare. Conflict is common in our daily work in the ICU. Many clinicians avoid conflict and have negative feelings towards it. However, conflict, when managed appropriately, can lead to significant benefits for our patients and teams. Dr. Zanotti's discussion is based on a webinar he presented earlier this month as part of Sound Critical Care Leadership Week. Additional Resources: Watch the full webinar: https://youtu.be/R3wz29W3C4g Conflict Management in the ICU. Previous Critical Matters podcast episode with Dr. Joshua Kayser. https://soundphysicians.com/podcast-episode/?podcast_id=342&track_id=1378454077 Books Mentioned in this Episode: Nonviolent Communication. By Marshal B. Rosenberg: https://bit.ly/4a8h0fp Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. By Roger Fisher and William Ury: https://bit.ly/3TSD5J3 Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict. By William Ury: https://bit.ly/4aauFCK Crucial Conversations: Tools For Talking When Stakes are High. By Joseph Grenny, et al: https://bit.ly/43AU6La The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict. By the Arbinger Institute: https://bit.ly/4a1v0HL

The podcast discusses the role of ECMO in acute respiratory failure, covering historical developments, patient selection, and outcomes. It explores optimizing patient care with correct tidal volume and early engagement with the ECMO team. The chapter also touches on anticoagulation, complications, proning ARDS patients on ECMO, and weaning off ECMO support. Lessons from Shackleton's expedition highlight the importance of embracing change for better patient outcomes.

Discussing critical care management of Guillain-Barre Syndrome and Myasthenia Gravis in the ICU, featuring insights from Dr. Kamran Athar. Topics include differential diagnosis, specific treatments like plasma exchange and IVIG, respiratory management, autonomic dysfunction, myasthenia crisis, and the importance of thymectomy in myasthenia patients with thymomas. Also, explores rare neuromuscular disorders that require ICU care and reflects on forgiveness, reconciliation, and humility in medicine and life.

In this episode, Dr. Zanotti is joined by Dr. Eddy Fan for a discussion about Respiratory Support in ARDS. Dr. Fan is an associate professor in the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is also a staff intensivist at the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Fan is currently the Medical Director of the Extracorporeal Life Support Program at the Toronto General Hospital and the Director of Critical Care Research at the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Fan’s research has focused on advanced life support for acute respiratory failure and patient outcomes from critical illness. He is a co-author of the ESICM ARDS Clinical Guidelines. Additional Resources: ESICM guidelines on acute respiratory distress syndrome: definition, phenotyping, and respiratory support strategies. Intensive Care Med 2023: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37326646/ An Update on Management of Adult Patients with ARDS. Official ATS Clinical Practice Guideline. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2024; https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.202311-2011ST Prone Positioning in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. PROSEVA Clinical Trial. N Engl J of Med 2013: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1214103 Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. The EOLIA Trial. N Eng J of Med 2018: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1800385 Books mentioned in this episode: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. By James Joyce: https://bit.ly/49kzmtn

Dr. Brandon Foreman, an expert in epilepsy and neurocritical care at the University of Cincinnati, shares invaluable insights on managing seizures in the ICU. He discusses the high prevalence of nonconvulsive seizures among critical care patients and the importance of accurate diagnosis. Dr. Foreman details essential diagnostic steps, emphasizes the need for timely treatment to prevent neuronal injury, and explores the role of continuous EEG monitoring. He also highlights the philosophical aspect of clinical care, encouraging diagnostic flexibility and humility.

Dr. Andre Kalil discusses the evaluation of fever in adult ICU patients, highlighting the importance of determining underlying causes. Topics include defining fever considering age, comorbidities, and medications, administering antimicrobials promptly, importance of blood cultures, culturing blood in ICU patients, testing for viral pathogens, and accepting uncertainty in patient care.

Dr. David Greer, a neurologist and chair of the Boston University School of Medicine Department of Neurology, discusses the clinical guidelines for brain death and death by neurologic criteria. They cover topics such as evaluating brain death and donation, conducting the apnea test, limitations of ancillary tests, determining brain death and consent, and the importance of providing comfort to patients and families. They also share book recommendations and emphasize finding joy in everyday work.

Dr. Naomi O'Grady, a critical care and infectious disease physician at the National Institutes of Health, discusses Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI). The podcast covers the impact of CLABSI on patient outcomes, the definitions and pathophysiology of CLABSI and CRBSI, catheter contamination and prevention strategies, the importance of hand hygiene before sterile glove insertion, the use of chlorhexidine dressings to reduce CLABSI rates, and improving the healthcare system and emphasizing self-care.

To err is human. In today’s episode, we will discuss the science behind learning to fail, in other words: “failing well”. We will discuss our flawed relationship to failure, how to better understand failure, and how to learn from failure. I am joined by Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. For the last 2 decades, she has studied the elements of high-performing teams in complex environments. She has coined the term “psychological safety” and has made critical insights into teaming, learning from failure, and innovation. She is the author of several books and multiple academic papers and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review. Her latest book “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well”, was released in September of this year on hardback. Additional Resource: Right Kind of Wrong. The Science of Failing Well. By Amy Edmondson: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Kind-Wrong-Science-Failing-ebook/dp/B0BTZT9CXV#:~:text=In%20Right%20Kind%20of%20Wrong,from%20flubs%20of%20all%20stripes Critical Matters podcast episode – The Fearless ICU, a discussion with Amy Edmondson on Psychological safety and teaming: https://soundphysicians.com/podcast-episode/?podcast_id=342&track_id=1220843524 Faculty page for Amy Edmondson. A great jumping point to her vast body of work: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/AmyEdmondson Strategies for Learning from Failure. By A. Edmondson. Harvard Business Review 2011: https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure Books Mentioned in this Episode: Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. By Tim Hartford: https://shorturl.at/mpQU1 Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. By Kathryn Shulz: https://shorturl.at/qAHJ0 Principles: Life and Work. By Ray Dalio: https://shorturl.at/JRSZ1

Organ transplantation has proven to be life-saving for thousands of patients and a growing number of disease processes. However, the gap between available organs for transplant and patients on organ transplant waiting lists continues to grow. In this episode, we will discuss the ICU management of the organ donor. Our guest is Dr. George Williams. He is a Professor of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, and Vice Chair for Critical Care Medicine at the McGovern Medical School of the University of Texas in Houston. Dr. Williams is also Medical Co-Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, and Executive Medical Director, for the Donor Specialty Care Unit- Memorial Hermann Hospital TMC. He is an Immediate Past-President of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists and currently serves as Chair, for the American Society of Anesthesiologists Committee on Critical Care Medicine. Additional Resources: Management of the Potential Organ Donor in the ICU. A clinical guideline published by the Society of Critical Care Medicine: https://www.sccm.org/Clinical-Resources/Guidelines/Guidelines/Management-of-the-Potential-Organ-Donor-in-the-ICU Website for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS): https://unos.org/ Critical Matters podcast episode – Death By Neurological Criteria: https://soundphysicians.com/podcast-episode/?podcast_id=342&track_id=1304762116 The rise of organ donation after circulatory death: a narrative review. Gardiner D, et al. ANESTHESIA 2020: https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anae.15100 Books Mentioned in this Episode: The Holy Bible, KJV: https://shorturl.at/wyLM4