Research Paper on:
Change Proposal for a PICU

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
describes the implementation of a protocol for congestive heart failure that standardized management and strengthened the continuum of care among an elderly population. While these researchers focused on older adults,  this study is important to pediatric heart patients due to the benefits that can be derived from the use of inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). There is a considerable  amount of research verifying that ACE inhibitors generate a decrease in cardiac events in adults (Kaufman, et al, 2008). Furthermore, Yata and his colleagues (2008) indicate that the Japanese, since  the early 1990s, have been using ACE inhibitors extensively with children who are diagnosed with mild IgA nephropathy with highly beneficial results. Therefore, it is logical to presume that the  benefits described by Martinen and Freundl in regards to their ACE inhibitor protocol would be beneficial to the patients of a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The clinical setting  of the ICU and why this change is needed The setting is a PICU focuses on treating infants with kidney failure. The principal form of treatment is hemodialysis. In  adults, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and recent research indicates that cardiovascular complications are evident also in children with CKD  (Mitsnefes, 2008). The survival rate for children with CKS is low, as children receiving dialysis live between 40 and 60 years less than their same age counterparts; and, here again,  the leading cause of death is cardiovascular, due to the development of "accelerated ischemic heart disease and premature dilated cardiomyopathy" (Mitsnefes, 2008, p. 27). As ACE inhibitors have been empirically  shown to prolong life and also improve the quality of life for patients with heart failure, it is logical and necessary to implement their use in the PICU. Strategies to