Critical Care Nursing

Fully revised and streamlined to include the most recent information, Critical Care Nursing: A Holistic Approach, 10e provides students with the theory and application knowledge necessary to fully prepare them for the highly specialized and complicated technical world of critical care nursing. These specially designed features assist students in providing competent and compassionate care to critically ill patients and their families: new! Evidence-Based Practice Highlights focus attention on the importance of research-based practice and include significant excerpts from AACN practice alerts as well as guidelines from other relevant organizations; new! Icons to identify drug therapy tables as well as laboratory and diagnostic tables focus attention on significant information; new! Spotlight on Genetics box, appearing in selected chapters, is key to understanding how genetic factors influence disorders; and new! Patient Safety boxes guide safe and effective practice by alerting the critical care nurse of risk factors, signs and symptoms, side effects, and complications.Considerations for the Older Patient boxes highlight the special needs of the fastest growing part of our population - older patients. Health History boxes summarize key areas that should be covered and relevant information that may be revealed during the health history. Collaborative Care Guides, presented in a tabular format containing outcomes and interventions, describe how the health care team works together to manage a patient's illness and minimize complications. Teaching Guides help the critical care nurse to prepare patients and family members for procedures, assist patients and family members with understanding the illness they are dealing with, explain post-procedure or postoperative activities, or prepare a patient for discharge from the hospital. Nursing Diagnoses boxes use current NANDA terminology to summarize common nursing diagnoses for particular conditions. Nursing Interventions tables and boxes highlight key information for the critical care nurse.