A Nurse's Survival Guide to Critical Care

SECTION 1 General principles of critical care

1.1 Introduction 2

1.2 Emergencies and life-threatening complications

SECTION 2 Patient assessment and investigations

2.1 Identification of patient needs/problems

2.2 Assessment

2.3 Haemodynamic monitoring

2.4 Diagnostic procedures

SECTION 3 Critical care interventions

3.1 Medium-technology life-support interventions

3.2 High-technology life-support interventions

3.3 Caring for a critical care patient

3.4 Intubation and ventilation

3.5 Transfer of critical care patients

SECTION 4 Common conditions/reasons for admission

4.1 Principles of cellular death, injury and repair

4.2 Neurological

4.3 Endocrine disorders

4.4 Respiratory

4.5 Cardiovascular

4.6 Renal

4.7 Gastrointestinal (GIT)

4.8 Immunological

4.9 Surgery

4.10 Burns

4.11 Poisoning/overdose

SECTION 5 Psychological and ethical care

5.1 Mental effects of critical care

5.2 Palliative care in critical care

5.3 Professional practice issues

SECTION 6 Pharmacology

6.1 Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

6.2 Classification of drugs used in critical care

6.3 Drug calculations

6.4 Nurse prescribing

Conclusion

References

Further reading

Appendix 1 Units of measurement

Appendix 2 Normal values

Appendix 3 Drug measurement and calculations

Glossary

Index