Help with ICU

rninme · Jul 10, 2006

Hi all,
I will soon be starting an ICU course at a rather difficulty private university here in Texas. I am quite worried about this course, as many students who have come before me have failed- roughly 1/3-1/2 , in fact. I was hoping someone-anyone-could dispense advice as to how I can survive this course. Any recommendations for readings/books to purchase, habits to take up, means of effective communication, what to expect, etc , would be extremely appreciated. Thank you!
-Confused in Texas-

Take a big deep breath!! You'll make it....

The reference book that I use in my job is Fast Facts for Adult Critical Care. You can order online at kathywhite.com. There is also a sticky for ICU websites in the critical care forum. Check those out!! Good luck to you;)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2006

howdy, texasnursingstudent!

i was trained by an old, wise icu nurse who told me from day one to get rid of any fear i had and to remember that it was only as hard as i was going to make it. everthing follows a logical course. when things are seeming to be confused, you need to sit and think about what you are reading about and see if you can simplify it. when this nurse explained to me how the heart "dies" or "wears out" from the top to the bottom and as those cells petered out and affected the electrical impulses, it became very easy for me to diagnosis and understand arrhythmias.

here are some links i put together that will probably be of help to you as you go through your course, particularly the links toward the end of the list. good luck. post and questions you have when you are having difficulty understanding something. also, there are always the nurses on the critical care forums who should be able to help you out as well. do you know how to link into those forums?

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/ - critical care medicine tutorials for medical students. some of the information here is very scholarly. topics include introduction to critical care, problem orientated approach, respiratory failure, shock, renal failure and sepsis. there is a great deal of information at this site. you have to surf around, especially using the links to see what is there if you don't want to read what is on the entire site. these are links into overviews of some of the topics that might interest you. there is much more specific information on these topics at this site.

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/intro/overview/page_05.htm - acid base balance in critical care medicine, a 32 page document

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/intro/overview/page_04.htm - respiratory failure

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/intro/overview/page_03.htm - sepsis

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/intro/overview/page_02.htm - hemodynamics (shock and hypotension)

http://enw.org/can'tbreathe.htm (part 1)

http://enw.org/can'tbreatheii.htm (part 2) - "i can't breathe!" 38 respiratory problems in the er. the links are for part 1 and part 2 of this very educational article. scenarios with focus on the problem solving of respiratory problems. each case will tell you what is going on, what needs to be done for the patient immediately and why. (emergency nursing)

http://enw.org/airwaycommandments.htm - the 10 commandments of airway management

http://classes.kumc.edu/son/nurs420/unit2/unit2.html - information for the nursing students at university of kansas. this page has links to tutorials on ventilation/perfusion, oxygen delivery, abg analysis. this is a very nice site to get information about patients on ventilators.

http://www.ccmtutorials.com/rs/oxygen/index.htm - all about oxygen, a tutorial about oxygen with a section on pulse oximetry

http://enw.org/electrolytes.htm - "maintaining the internal seas in harmony: common electrolyte disturbances in the ed" good discussion of dehydration and sodium and potassium electrolyte disturbances. includes discussion of how they occur, signs and symptoms, labs, as well as nursing actions

http://tracheostomy.com/ - everything you want to know about tracheostomies and trach care. lots of pictures and explanations. if you go to the site map page you will find links to respiratory surgical procedures, many of which are videos.

http://www.madsci.com/manu/indexgas.htm - the stabilization of chest pain from mad scientist software.

http://www.madsci.com/manu/indexekg.htm - micro ekg manual from mad scientist software.

http://www-medlib.med.utah.edu/kw/ecg/index.html - an excellent online tutorial with diagrams on everything you want to know about ekg interpretation from the university of utah school of medicine. also has quizzes! geared for physicians, but nurses can get information from this also.

http://maagnursing.com/abg/ - this is an abg and acid/base balance tutorial. you do not have to register to go through the tutorial.

http://realnurseed.com/abg.htm - "abg's: it's all in the family"

http://www.madsci.com/manu/indexgas.htm - blood gas basics from mad scientist software

https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/mpb/medphysiology/week5/vascular.2.pdf - cardiac output

https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/mpb/medphysiology/week5/vascular.3.pdf - arterial/venous function, pulse pressure

https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/mpb/medphysiology/week5/vascular.5.pdf - more on cardiac output and blood loss

http://classes.kumc.edu/son/nurs420/unit4/hemomon.html - a tutorial on hemodynamic monitoring from the university of kansas school of nursing

http://www6.medical.philips.com/cmsmedia/hemo_1/

http://www.pacep.org/pages/start/ref.html?xin=sccm - this is a free online tutorial on how to use the pulmonary artery catheter in the clinical environment. you have to register to access this tutorial, but it is free.

http://www.nursewise.com/courses/chestubes_hour.htm - a very nice explanation of chest tubes and how they work

http://rnbob.tripod.com/ - nurse bob's micu/icu survival guide

http://www.icufaqs.org/ - links to icu procedures

http://www.geocities.com/nyerrn/2/p/video.htm - listing of videos of procedures and skills from er nurse, some paramedic skills here also

welcome to allnurses! :welcome: