critical care/ advanced concepts

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · May 27, 2015

Do you get your syllabus already so that you have an idea of what you are going to study?

jgarza196 · May 27, 2015

No, we don't get a syllabus until, if were lucky, about a few days before class starts.. Were able to access the class online about three or four days before the actual start of class which for me is august 24. I talked to this other friend that has already graduated form the RN program, and she just told me to study my med-surg book!!!! im studying EKG's and intubation, it would just be nice to have a syllabus-reading list, so I could start reading early..

Summer Days · May 29, 2015

In SICU, there wasn't a shift I failed to see a pt with chest tubes, both to pt's right and left chest. So review the whole chest tube shebang! Along with that, know your sepsis and shock disease processes very well. Aha, ARDS (acute/adult respiratory distress syndrome) comes to mind. Read up on hemodynamic monitoring, which should lead you to youtube arterial line blood pressure monitoring. Figure out what cardiac output, cardiac index, stroke volume and stroke index mean! I can guarantee you that vasopressors will come up time and again. If you never had fun with strict I&Os you will in ICU. There's plenty more to go, you have choice of ICP monitoring, GCS score, blood administration, enteral feeding, intubation and mechanical ventilation. I think that's a good list to start with. All the best and study smart. Cheers

jgarza196 · May 29, 2015

thanks summer days, I appreciate all your input... this is the first time I get a good amount of time off till the time I begin classes again, so I really appreciate your response!!!