Priorities in Critical Care Nursing by Linda D. Urden, Mary E. Lough, Kathleen M. Stacy

From the Publisher

In this essentials version of the bestselling critical care nursing textbook (Thelan's Critical Care Nursing: Diagnosis and Management, 5th Edition), Priorities in Critical Care Nursing, 5th Edition concisely addresses all of the core critical care nursing topics and helps you identify priorities to effectively manage patient care. Priorities in Critical Care Nursing also covers ethical and legal issues, patient and family education, psychosocial alterations, sleep alterations, nutritional alterations, gerontologic considerations, and end-of-life care.

• UNIQUE! Determining your diagnosis priorities is simple with Nursing Diagnosis Priorities boxes accompanying each medical disorder and major medical treatment discussion.
• UNIQUE! Patient Safety Priorities boxes included in each therapeutic management chapter highlight important patient safety considerations.
• Collaborative Management boxes guide you through management of a wide variety of disorders.

• Full-color design and illustrations throughout give you a real-life look at critical care.
• End-of-Life Care chapter discusses advance directives, palliative care, withdrawal of mechanical ventilation, and organ donation.
• Hematologic and Oncologic Issues chapter in the "Multisystem Alterations" unit addresses issues related to immunosuppression oncology and hematologic oncology, including disseminated intravascular coagulation, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, and tumor lysis syndrome.
• Evidence-Based Collaborative Practice features summarize evidence-based recommendations for a variety of therapies.
• Patient Education features guide you in patient education for disorders includingstroke, craniotomy, and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
• Common critical conditions are easily understandable with Concept Maps on conditions including intracranial hypertension, acute respiratory failure, acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, acute respiratory distress syndrome, diabetes mellitus, and septic shock.

Mary R. Perrecone

This book is a general overview of critical care patient assessment and management. This third edition, with previous editions published in 1992 and 1996, has two new chapters -- Pain Management and Nursing Process and Collaborative Care. Additionally, diagnostic tables accompany each diagnostic procedure discussed to summarize the most common diagnostic procedures for that disorder and pertinent nursing care. According to the editors the "emphasis continues to be on priorities for the critical care nurse." Their objectives are not clearly listed. A general objective is to "assist critical care nurses in quickly assessing and intervening in the most efficient and effective manner." It is my opinion that the book is worthy of this objective. The audience includes student nurses, practicing critical care nurses, and educators, according to the editors. According to my judgment, this book is written for senior nursing students and novice critical care nurses. In my opinion, the editors are credible authorities -- the principal editor is a doctorally prepared Associate Professor and her co-editor is a critical care Clinical Nurse Specialist, as well as Adjunct Faculty. The best features include the easy to follow diagrams, tables, and boxed inserts. The nursing diagnosis boxed menus are complete with etiologic factors that accompany each medical disorder and major medical treatment. I would like to see enhancement of the Nursing Process and Collaboration of Care chapter. The collaboration of critical care patients is the most important aspect of nursing assessment and management. The book is useful for the novice nurse and an excellent resource for educators to utilize as asimplified teaching guide. The core systems involved in critical care management are clear, concise, and succinct. In comparison to other critical care books, this paperback would be a wonderful addition for novice nurses to their "recommended" book list.

Angela Bliley

In this second edition, general critical care principles are presented, then sections are organized according to alterations in the major body systems. The pathophysiology, assessment and diagnostic procedures, potential system disorders, medical treatments, and priorities (NANDA diagnoses) for nursing management are described for each body system. The purpose is to provide a resource for critical care nursing that fosters the development of critical thinking skills and decision making by student nurses and critical care nurses. This book is intended for student nurses and clinicians practicing critical care nursing. It would be a useful tool for the beginner and a valuable resource for the clinician. Most chapters are well illustrated, although some are lacking any illustrations. Important features of the book are the numerous tables presented throughout the chapters and the detailed reference lists at the end of each chapter. In addition, to avoid duplication of nursing activities within the chapters, the nursing management plans with the related nursing diagnosis are described in the final section and referenced throughout the chapters. This book is an excellent reference for the practicing critical care nurse and for the student nurse learning critical care nursing. The user can easily and quickly obtain pertinent information when assessing, planning and intervening with critically ill patients. The numerous tables presented throughout the chapters help the reader obtain concise and valuable knowledge. New to this edition are chapters concerning gerontology, burn care, and shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, as well as an instructor's resource manual and a series ofcritical care nursing videos. This resource book is appropriate for individuals, nursing libraries, and in-patient nursing units.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Filissa Marie Caserta, MSN (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
Description:This comprehensive book encompasses the multitude of issues that critical care nurses will face in the ICU. Purchasing the book gives readers access to a web site which provides important resources for ICU nurse educators.
Purpose:The purpose is to assist critical care nurses with the prioritization of the variety of situations encountered in the ICU to enable them to respond in the most effective and expedient manner. Prioritization is a must in the critical care environment as nurses can easily be overwhelmed with the multitude of tasks needed during any given shift. Although the book does address prioritization, as noted by the bold text under nursing management and in the textboxes titled "nursing diagnosis priorities," providing case scenarios with a list of tasks nurses must perform followed by questions about the order in which they must be performed would provide a practical examples.
Audience:The book is written for ICU nurses, nursing students, and ICU educators. The authors are well credentialed educators and clinical nurse specialists with broad nursing experience. The contributors have diverse backgrounds and are experts in their specialties. The book is appropriate its audience, but it is especially helpful for critical care educators given the sample course outlines and test questions provided on the web.
Features:This new edition provides the most current evidence-based practices, along with a detailed overview of all critical care conditions by body system, including neurologic, cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal,gastrointestinal, and endocrine. One unit reviews multisystem alterations including multisystem organ dysfunction. All management is based on the published guidelines available for the particular disorder. The book starts with a much needed section on the foundations of critical care nursing that includes an excellent discussion of legal implications of nursing practice, an area that all nurses need to know. There is also a section on moral distress experienced by critical care nurses. The inclusion of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) Standards of Care and Professional Practice for acute and critical care nurses is an excellent idea as many critical care nurses are unaware that such standards exist. The review of the nursing process is done quite well. It is not the repetitious, often impractical approach that has been depicted in nursing books. The nursing diagnoses are relevant and described as a three-part statement including the actual nursing diagnosis, the etiologic factors, and the defining characteristics. This presentation requires that nurses pull the entire picture together to create a complete, detailed plan of care. Appendix A provides sample plans of care that promote nursing autonomy, critical thinking, and collaboration with the healthcare team. The web component is an excellent resource for nurse educators.
Assessment:This is a very useful, basic book for any level of critical care nurse. It is easy to understand, detailed, up to date, and well organized

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody

Product Details

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