Critical Care Nursing: Learning from Practice takes a unique approach to critical care. Based around case scenarios that have the patient as the central focus, each chapter is constructed around an example of a critically ill patient with specific care needs. The chapters then go on to critically explore the knowledge and skills required to deliver expert care. This book looks at a range of critical care scenarios, including:The patient with acute lung injuryThe patient with feverThe patient with an acute kidney injuryThe patient with long term needsThe patient with increased intra-abdominal pressureThe Patient following cardiac surgery

Each chapter develops knowledge of the related physiology/pathophysiology, appropriate nursing interventions that are research/evidence based, technical skills, data interpretation and critical appraisal skills, enabling the reader to apply fundamental knowledge to more complex patient problems.  Critical Care Nursing: Learning from Practice is an essential resource for practitioners faced with complex and challenging patient cases.

Suzanne Bench is a Lecturer in Critical Care Nursing at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kings College London. She is also Link lecturer for the Intensive Care unit at St Thomas Hospital

Kate Brown is Lecturer in Critical Care Nursing. Course leader for post registration High Dependency Nursing courses and the Physiology for nursing at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kings College London.

Contributor list.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1 The patient with acute lung injury (ALI) (Julie Hamilton).

2 The patient requiring complex weaning from mechanical ventilation (Dr. Cheryl Crocker).

3 The patient with fever (Kate Brown).

4 The patient with severe sepsis (Suzanne Bench).

5 The patient following cardiac surgery (Dr. Maureen Coombs).

6 The patient with severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to oesophageal varices (Suzanne Sargent).

7 The patient with altered blood glucose (Danielle Fullwood).

8 The patient with increased abdominal pressure (Suzanne Bench).

9 The patient with an acute kidney injury (Annette Davies and Suzanne Bench).

10 The patient in acute pain (Dr. Sinead Mehigan).

11 The patient requiring sedation (Tina Moore).

12 The patient with raised intracranial pressure (Deborah Slade).

13 The patient with delirium (Deborah Slade and Kate Brown).

14 The patient with seizure activity (Clair Merriman).

15 The patient following poisoning (Sue Whaley).

16 The patient with long-term needs (Ruth Cork).

17 The patient requiring end-of-life care (Ruth Cork).

Appendices.

Index.