Introduction
The field of critical care is rapidly changing. It is important for anesthesiologists be knowledgeable of these changes for providing care to critically ill patients in the perioperative period. The purpose of this chapter is to provide update for clinicians on ICU issues relevant to clinical practice. Topics which will be discussed include: modes of mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy, antibiotic prophylaxis, nutritional support, sedation management, transport and transfer of care.
I. Modes of Mechanical Ventilation
Introduction
Most patients undergoing general anesthesia for surgical procedures require mechanical ventilation. One of the biggest challenges facing clinicians providing mechanical ventilatory support today is managing the balance between providing adequate gas exchange and avoiding lung injury associated with positive pressure ventilation. Patients with respiratory failure need adequate tissue oxygenation and acid-base balance; however, the lungs are fragile structures that can be injured by over-distension, alveolar collapse and reopening, and high oxygen exposure. This challenge in providing “lung protective ventilation” is made more difficult by the fact that lung injury is often heterogeneous and thus what may benefit gas exchange in one region (e.g., higher pressure) may worsen injury in another.
Modern anesthesia ventilators are becoming increasingly sophisticated provide high performances in delivering accurately and
Critical-Care Nursing: An Analysis of a Complicated Profession
Nicholas D’Amario
Carroll Community College
The massive field of nursing is broken down into over one hundred specialties and subspecialties that each have a unique background and certain set of requirements and skills specific to the job. Critical Care is an area within nursing that aims to care for the most vulnerable and ill of patients. Nurses working in critical care units are typically highly skilled and have acquired many
For a child or adult to need critical care, it means they are in an unstable condition, often unconscious, with erratic vital signs that need close monitoring (Everynurse.org). It takes a special kind of nurse to come into work every day and care for these people while bearing the great pressure that comes with not knowing if they will survive until the next day or not, despite even the best efforts. A kind of nurse that is extensively trained to make sure that they have the advanced skills necessary
would be the following: monthly field trips to clinics or hospitals for student to develop some background knowledge of a nursing major, nursing skills participation lab to increase students engagement with others and build up their critical thinking skills, and monthly nursing workshops for students to engage in hands on activities to strengthen their decision making and have a better understanding of being in the nursing field.
By taking high school students on a field trip to clinics or hospitals
medications, but a BSN nurse is better educated in critical thinking. A BSN prepared nurse can also advance quicker in their career with better job opportunities. These are strong reasons for any ASN nurse to seek a higher level of education.
It is important to note that the BSN nurse is highly skilled to be more of a critical thinker. When the Affordable Care Act was established in 2012, the role of the RN began to expand into more of a coordinator of patient care (McIntosh, 2016). Baccalaureate degree RNs
Care for patient: the core concept across nursing theories
Introduction
There are numerous nursing theories and as the nursing profession grows, more and more theories are introduced. Ferreting for one core, unifying concept that is common across all theories is harder than initially assumed, but, if one reduces all to its core basis, one finds that al revolves around the patient and around attempts as to how to make the patient's life easier and better. To that end, therefore, the common element
with my personal values and beliefs. Martha Rogers’ theory of Unitary Human Beings definitely has elevated my thinking to seeing the person as a whole. Through Rogers’ UHB theory, and understanding that human beings and the environment have energy fields that influences each other, it will in fact improve my practice and the quality of life of my clients. Providing a therapeutic, compassionate, and holistic caring based on Rogers’ theory of UHB informs my practice as I hope to achieve overall optimal
In health care, even more than in other professions, training, development, and continuous assessment are some of the most important aspects of ensuring the continued excellence of workers in the field. In this profession, such excellence extends to more than only professional regard and ethics. Indeed, more often than not, it concerns human lives and the ability of professionals to ensure the best possible chance of survival for those in their care. Hence, training and education remain vital, as
in response to rapidly changing health care environment. Expanding knowledge by pursuing higher education allows nurses to enlarge one’s practice. Furthermore, higher education in nursing has been shown that a nurse’s level of education can become a critical factor to the patient-centered quality of care. This essay describes increased demand for higher education in nursing and emphasizes the necessity of continuing education to provide optimum patient care in various setting.
Techniques and
nursing field. There are many similarities and differences in the roles of nursing from the different levels such as LPN and RN. There are also differences in the degrees and licensures to choose from that effect the roles of nurses. The education levels also have a great deal with the job opportunities available to nurses. Critical thinking is one of the most important aspects of nursing and is taught at every level, but the further a nurse advances in education, the more advanced their critical thinking
Job Satisfaction in Critical Care Nurses
Job satisfaction is a concept that encompasses a variety of definitions. While this concept is a fairly simple idea, it consists of multiple factors that contribute to an employee’s feeling towards their employer. Examples of these factors include, but are not limited to autonomy in the work place, pay, interaction between nurse and physician, management styles, organizational behavior and change. Job satisfaction can also be defined at a cognitive level