Question

i have to do a an essay about what icu nurses do...i know they are responsible for taking care of 1 or 2 critically ill patients.. be specific please. thank you!

Answer 1

Ans) The concept of critical care nursing has transformed intensely since its origin in the 1960’s. The discipline of nursing and the specialty of critical care nursing are expected to advance and transform, just the way health care delivery system has reformed over the last few decades. Never before have there been significant advancements in technology, surgeries, therapies, imaging alternatives, diverse procedures, pharmacology and innovative research modalities being delivered

Critical care nursing is an intense area of nursing. The RNs care for patients that need close assessment and intervention. Working in a CCU requires advanced skills. The nurses that work in the critical care unit have to be very precise. Treatment and care of critical patients is very complex. Critical care or intensive care nursing staff must have more training than other general nursing staff. They have to be prepared to care for patients with critical needs around the clock.

Assessment findings are used to determine what needs to be done for the patient next. Early warning scoring systems currently exist to aid in the early detection of patient deterioration .

To enable consistency of assessment, the same nurse should be taking the observations of a patient for the duration of a shift (Moore, 2007). This ensure that the interpretation of results don’t differ each time the vital signs are done. It also allows the nurse to detect subtle changes in the patients state that may not have been written down. For example, in most clinical environments the respiration rate is recorded as just a number, and the rhythm, degree of effort, quality of breathing and evidence of wheezing or other abnormal breathing sounds are not recorded. The rate may stay the same over a period of time while other aspects of respiration may change, and this is something that a nurse is more likely to notice if they have assessed that patient before. During handover, a nurse should tell the next nurse looking after their patients how they took observations and detail what tools they used to ensure consistency is maintained.

Therefore, Critical care nurses are responsible for the care of patients with acute and unstable physiologic problems, including their caregivers. Critical care nurses' role include assessing life-threating conditions, commencing appropriate interventions, and evaluating the outcome of each intervention.