Advanced Practice in Critical Care

Book excerpt: Advanced Practice in Critical Care provides experiencedcritical care nurses with a clear and distinct evidence base forcontemporary critical care practice. Central to the book is theapplication of research and evidence to practice and therefore,case studies and key critical care clinical situations are usedthroughout to guide the reader through the patient care trajectory. Each chapter introduces an initial patient scenario and as thechapter progresses, the patient scenario develops with thetheoretical perspectives and application. In this way, it isevident how multi-organ dysfunction develops, impacting upon andinfluencing other body systems, demonstrating the multi-organimpact that is often experienced by the critically ill patient. Inthis way, consequences of critical illness such as acute renalfailure, haemostatic failure and liver dysfunction are explored.Throughout the text, key research findings and critical caretreatment strategies are referred to, applied and evaluated in thecontext of the given patient case study. Advanced assessmenttechniques are explained and the underlying pathophysiology isdiscussed in depth. Advanced Practice in Critical Care is anessential resource for experienced practitioners within criticalcare whom primarily care for patients requiring high dependency orintensive care.