Critical care nursing clinics of North America
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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.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Jun 2006
Review Case ReportsEsophageal Doppler monitoring for hemodynamic assessment.
This article reviews the importance of hemodynamic monitoring in adding to the clinical assessment of critically ill patients. The esophageal Doppler monitor (EDM) provides a less invasive way of obtaining hemodynamic information quickly and safely at the bedside. The concepts of Doppler signal acquisition and important nursing considerations are reviewed. Case studies are provided to understand how data from the EDM can impact patient care decisions at the bedside.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Jun 2006
ReviewPractice standards for ECG monitoring in hospital settings: executive summary and guide for implementation.
Current goals of hospital ECG monitoring are to diagnose cardiac arrhythmias, acute myocardial ischemia, and drug-induced prolonged QT interval. Recently, experts in the field of electrocardiology and cardiac monitoring convened to develop a practice standard for hospital ECG monitoring. This executive summary reviews key elements of the practice standard and answers questions that often arise when clinicians try to implement them.