Overview of Critical Care Flashcards
Definition of Critical Care
critical care nursing is concerned with human responses to life-threatening problems, such as trauma, major surgery, or complications of illness.
The human response can be a physiological or psychological phenomenon (or both). The focus of the critical care nurse includes both pt’s and family’s responses to illness and involves prevention as well as cure.
History of Critical Care
started in 1950s during polio epidemic (iron lung)
1960s: recovery rooms started for care of pts who had undergone surgery
1970s: critical care nursing became specialty
History of AACN (American Association of Critical Care Nurses)
1969: American Association of Cardiovascular Nurses founded to help educate nurses
1971: name changed to American Association of Critical Care Nurses
1974: first year of NTI (National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition)
1975: AACN Certification Corporation founded. Credentialing arm of AACN founded to maintain professional practice excellence through certification.
1976: CCRN critical care specialty certification launched
Other Units that Critical Care has expanded into:
PACU ED Step-down/Intermediate Care Units Interventional Radiology Cardiac Catheterization Lab
Sentinel Events
any unanticipated event in healthcare setting resulting in death or serious physical or psychological injury to a patient or patients, not related to the natural course of the patient’s illness
Goal of Critical Care Nursing
Base core:
- heart and lungs
- secondary interventions
Need to care:
- pt-centered care
- family-centered care
Needs of the Critically Ill Patient
Recall
Needs: feeling safe, receiving information
Nursing Role: technical competence and interpersonal skills promote sense of trust and security
Communication: verbal/nonverbal, touch, therapeutic listening, intubated (make sure they have ways to communicate with us - pen/paper, whiteboard, etc.
Assessment Challenges in Critical Care
Delirium: usually happens w/in 24-48 hours after being admitted to critical care area (most often d/t sleep deprivation)
Neuromuscular Blockade (paralyzing pts): difficult to get a neuro assessment
Management of Pain and Anxiety: differentiating between these two
- one usually exacerbates the other
- pt may be anxious b/c they are in pain, pain is exacerbated when they are anxious
Communication
Pain and Anxiety in Critical Care
Pain:
- unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage
- it is what the pt says it is
Anxiety:
- prolonged state of apprehension in response to fear
- marked by apprehension, agitation, and automatic arousal
Difficult to differentiate pain and anxiety
Relationship is cyclic; one may exacerbate the other
Predisposing Factors that Influence Pain
expectation
previous pain experiences
emotional state
cognitive status (at time of admission)
Predisposing Factors that Influence Anxiety
inability to communicate noise and sensory overload lack of mobility unfamiliar surrounding sleep deprivation circumstances leading to ICU admission (may see pt in ICU b/c of suicide attempt, when they wake up in ICU and see that they've failed at attempt it can be very anxiety inducing)
Sleep in the ICU
two 60min blocks in 7 days
half of the time only one procedure was done
60min sleep cycle provides Stage I or light sleep
90min sleep cycle is needed for a sleep cycle (to reach REM)
lack of sleep leads to problems (physical and psychological)
- need sleep for growth and maintenance of homeostasis
- REM is most important for mental restoration
Sx of Sleep Deprivation
physical and cognitive dysfunction mood instability fatigue depression anxiety stress irritability physical exhaustion
Nursing Interventions for Sleep Deprivation
Tx PADIS: P-pain A-anxiety D-delirium I-immobility S-sleep
Use anti-anxiety meds not Ativan or Valium as these make delirium worse.
5 min back rub increases sleep by an hour
Sedation Assessment Tools
Sedation meds are given to reduce symptoms; dose is adjusted based on tools or scales:
- Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS)
- Ramsey Sedation Scale (Ramsey)
- Sedation-Agitation Scale
Propofol
short acting non-benzodiazepine sedative
in OR: used as induction med before intubating
in CC setting: as continuous infusion to keep pt comfortable in sedation so they can tolerate ET tube and ventilator
- fatty emulsion in a 100cc bottle (lipid base)
- lipid base so check cholesterol level if on for greater than 72 hours continuous
- can cause fatty liver if pt has preexisting liver disease (then use other meds like benzos instead)
- made with eggs and soy
- give slowly d/t hypotension and bradycardia
- discard bottle after 12 hours if it hasn’t already run out
- change tubing every 12 hours b/c there is risk for bacteria growth d/t lipid base
- half-life = 15 mins (can easily turn off and do neuro exam)
Delirium
temporary acute confusion for a medical reason (life-threatening)
characterized by:
- acutely changing or fluctuating mental status
- inattention
- disorganized thinking
- altered LOC
