Critical care nursing clinics of North America
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The successful management of burns and related injuries requires a comprehensive team approach at a designated burn center. This team should consist of burn surgeons, burn nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, clinical nutritionists, social workers, chaplains, and other clinical consultants. This article focuses specifically on the management of thermal burns and inhalational injuries, with an emphasis on assessment, resuscitation, and critical care management. It also discusses special considerations related to burned trauma patients.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Sep 2006
ReviewCare of the critically ill patient with penetrating head injury.
Patients who have penetrating head injury all too often present with some of the most devastating and challenging intracranial injuries. The mechanisms of injury and associated neuropathology affect every body system and require a multidisciplinary approach. ⋯ Much remains scientifically unsubstantiated, however. Optimal management of critically ill patients who have penetrating head injury requires clinical expertise and care of the highest quality.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Sep 2006
ReviewTraumatic injury in the older adult from head to toe.
This review demonstrates essential issues to consider when caring for older trauma patients, including baseline physical status, mental health, comorbidities, and risk factors for sequelae and future injuries. The impact of a traumatic injury on older adults is complex. Issues of normal aging, functional status, chronic health conditions, and response to treatment affect health care and related decisions. ⋯ Critical care nurses, with their emphasis on multidisciplinary, holistic practice, can expand their influence as essential members of the interdisciplinary team caring for older trauma patients by cultivating geriatric specialty knowledge. Older trauma patients would benefit greatly from this type of specialty nursing care during all phases of the recovery trajectory, particularly in terms of adequate symptom management and prevention of sequelae, as well as with timely and appropriate initiation of consultative services. Using the intersection of primary and secondary prevention as the overall guide for practice, critical care nurses and other health care providers who possess an understanding of aging processes and comorbid conditions can significantly improve outcomes for older adults with traumatic injuries.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Sep 2006
ReviewWorkplace violence: a primer for critical care nurses.
This review illustrates the various types of workplace violence nurses can encounter in critical care settings. Lack of a clear definition of workplace violence impedes research on the topic; however, the typology offered by the UIIPRC provides a framework to guide further studies of physical and nonphysical workplace violence. Further investigation of individual and organizational factors will assist nurses and agencies in identifying effective methods to manage, prevent, educate, and respond to each type of workplace violence. ⋯ Debriefing strategies should be a fundamental component of workplace violence policies to prevent the development of longterm consequences. Additional research is needed on all types of workplace violence, as well as research addressing the needs of specialized setting, such as critical care unit. Critical care nurses have valuable insights regarding the risks they face on their units and should be part of a multidisciplinary team developing policies and workplace violence prevention and education programs.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Sep 2006
ReviewFirearm violence in america: a growing health problem.
Firearm injury is a disease that afflicts many individuals in the United States, either directly or indirectly. Trauma and critical care nurses have direct experience with this life-threatening disease and recognize the high lethality. The magnitude of this health problem requires a focus on primary prevention. We recognize that any focus on firearm injury is often contentious and political; however, nurses bring a ready-made credibility and focus on evidence-based practice to the prevention of this disease.