Critical pathways project

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ayokunle Olubaniyi, M.B,B.S [2]

Overview

The critical pathways project is focused on creating standardized treatment protocols for the management of medical conditions by applying evidence-based medical approaches to patient care. With the use of critical pathways, a health care giver can rapidly determine the treatment goals of a specific medical condition and institute appropriate actions in a chronological sequence with optimal efficiency. This project is intended for interns, residents, attending physicians, hospitalists, specialists, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners to contribute their expertise. This project aims at improving the quality of making diagnoses and treating medical conditions, reducing the variability in treatment, and to improve the overall quality of patient care. WikiDoc welcomes your involvement in contributing to this project.

Goals

• To improve the quality of making diagnoses and treating medical conditions.
• To standardize health care processes.
• To reduce the occurrence of medical errors.
• To optimize treatment outcomes in acute and home care settings.
• To limit the over-utilization of health care resources thereby reducing cost.
• To improve the overall quality of health care.

Who Can Contribute?

The critical pathways project is intended for health professionals with a good medical knowledge, and preferably, with a prior residency training and experience. You are welcome to apply if you are an intern, resident, attending physician, specialist, nurse or a nurse practitioner. You will be required to function as an Associate Editor-in Chief at WikiDoc.

How to Get Started

Select a Topic

A topic of interest is selected from the Resident Survival Guide page and a name is assigned next to it. Click here to select a topic.

Topic	Resident Survival Guide Page	Authorship
Abdominal pain	Abdominal pain resident survival guide	(Add name here)
Abnormal Liver function tests	Abnormal Liver function tests resident survival guide
Acetaminophen overdose	Acetaminophen overdose resident survival guide
Acidosis	Acidosis resident survival guide
Acute coronary syndrome	Acute coronary syndrome resident survival guide
Acute decompensated heart failure	Acute decompensated heart failure resident survival guide

Next Steps

• Use the algorithm in the Resident Survival Guide of the selected topic as reference.

First branching point

Answer 1

Answer 2

• Use the first branching point on the algorithm as a guide for constructing the first question.
• Provide answers to the question. There could be two or more answers to this question.
• Link provided answers to corresponding pages on WikiDoc.
• Give Definitions and Action Items for the first question. Please add references when necessary.
• Use the second branching point after each answer as a reference for the second question.
• Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5.
• After finishing the critical pathways, add the Critical Pathways icon in the Main Page by using the following wikicode.

Structure of the Critical Pathways

The structure of the critical pathways looks like this:

Topic from the resident survival guide

First question

Answer 1

Answer 2

Definition

• The definition of the answers must be provided and referenced when possible. For example:
• Metabolic acidosis is a state in which the blood pH is less than 7.35 due to increased production of H⁺ by the body or the inability of the body to form bicarbonate (HCO3^-) in the kidney.
• Anion gap = [Na⁺] - [Cl^-] - [HCO3^-]
• Normal reference range for anion gap is between 8 and 16 meq/L.

Action Items

• This involves determining the next step to take in the patient management. For example: Should I check for respiratory compensation in the case of metabolic acidosis or not? Should I administer bicarbonate or not?

Resources

• Wikicode for Icons

__NOTOC__
{| class="infobox" style="float:right;"
|-
| [[File:Siren.gif|30px|link={{PAGENAME}} resident survival guide]]|| <br> || <br>
| [[{{PAGENAME}} resident survival guide|'''Resident'''<br>'''Survival'''<br>'''Guide''']]
|}
{| class="infobox" style="float:right;"
|-
| [[File:Critical_Pathways.gif|88px|link={{PAGENAME}} critical pathways]]|| <br> || <br>
|}

• Wikicode for Critical Pathways

__NOTOC__
{{CMG}}

==Critical Pathways==
{|CELLPADDING=20 STYLE="WIDTH:50%; HEIGHT:50px" BORDER="1"
| BGCOLOR=FLORALWHITE | {{Smallcaps|[[{{PAGENAME}} critical pathways|{{PAGENAME}} critical pathways]]}}
|}

{|CELLPADDING=20 STYLE="WIDTH:50%; HEIGHT:50px" BORDER="1"
| BGCOLOR=FLORALWHITE STYLE="WIDTH:50%"| Critical Point 1 || BGCOLOR=MEDIUMAQUAMARINE STYLE="WIDTH:25%" | [[{{PAGENAME}} A critical pathways|A]] ||BGCOLOR=LIGHTGRAY STYLE="WIDTH:25%" | [[{{PAGENAMEE}} B critical pathways|B]]
|}

{|CELLPADDING=20 STYLE="WIDTH:50%; HEIGHT:50px" BORDER="1"
| BGCOLOR=FLORALWHITE STYLE="WIDTH:50%" | Critical Point 2 || BGCOLOR=MEDIUMAQUAMARINE STYLE="WIDTH:25%" | [[{{PAGENAME}} A1 critical pathways|A1]] ||BGCOLOR=LIGHTGRAY STYLE="WIDTH:25%" | [[{{PAGENAMEE}} A2 critical pathways|A2]]
|}

==Definition==

==Action Items==

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

[[Category:Critical pathways]]
[[Category:Disease]]
[[Category:Emergency medicine]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Primary care]]
[[Category:Signs and symptoms]]

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• How to create a page on WikiDoc: Click here
• How to add a reference: Click here