Need a good ICU book

[erinnRN]

Hi! I will be starting as a new ICU nurse the beginning of May. I have come from a Transitional ICU but we did not get Swans, alot of drips and CVVH....I was wondering about a good ICU book -- nursing or whatever.

oh, and any other advice for me!

thanks,

Erin

[pickledpepperRN]

I agree that this is the best I have seen:

http://www.icufaqs.org

Good to have a good textbook though. The AACN

https://www.aacn.org/AACN/practiceAlert.nsf/vwdoc/PracticeAlertMain?opendocument?opendocument#

is a great resource. Take their classes if you can. Attend NYI is possible too.

I found "Core Curriculum for Critical Care" very difficult when new. An experienced enthusiastic, and knowlegable instructor made all the difference for me.

Then got to the FAQs.

[heartICU]

If you are looking for books for cardiothoracic surgical nursing, I have a couple that are really good. Cardiothoracic Surgical Nursing by Betsy A. Finkelmeier (ISBN 0781717132) is great, and Cardiac Nursing by Susan L. Woods (ISBN 0781717337). I also have a hemodynamics book, Handbook of Hemodynamic Monitoring and Noninvasive Clinical Application by Gloria Oblouk Darovic (ISBN 0721692931).

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

A really good medical text book for ICU is Oh's Intensive Care Manual 5th Edition I don't have the ISBN but I do know it is published by Butterworth's/heinemann. Although it is medical it is one of the more readable medical texts.

[TraumaQueen]

I too have the handbook of hemodynamic monitoring. I found it very easy to read. On other book I bought is wonderful, and is titled The ICU Book. It explains things in pretty plain language, but is a good step up if you're looking to further your knowledge.

[EvelynRN-BSN]

Thank You! Everyone has been very helpful!

Evelyn

I too have the handbook of hemodynamic monitoring. I found it very easy to read. On other book I bought is wonderful, and is titled The ICU Book. It explains things in pretty plain language, but is a good step up if you're looking to further your knowledge.

[JCRN03]

I frequently use The ICU Book 2nd edition by Paul L. Marino. It may be a little more in depth than some of the other reccommended books, however, I find it very readable and valuable.

[nurseneesy]

May I humbly recommend my series of free articles at www.icufaqs.org ?

WOW what a wonderful website.....

[javajunkie]

Kathy White's Fast Facts most definitely.

[bluesky, BSN, RN]

I frequently use The ICU Book 2nd edition by Paul L. Marino. It may be a little more in depth than some of the other reccommended books, however, I find it very readable and valuable.

I also really recommend this book! It has really helped me get a great overview of what's going on in the ICU!

[sockov, ADN, ASN, BSN, CNA, LVN]

This is a great ICU book for the "newbie"

good luck.

Introduction to Critical Care Nursing

by Mary Lou Sole, Marilyn Lamborn, Jeanette Hartshorn

Hardcover: 665 pages

Publisher: W.B. Saunders Company; 3rd edition (December 1, 2000)

ISBN: 0721686877

[begalli]

I also have a hemodynamics book, Handbook of Hemodynamic Monitoring and Noninvasive Clinical Application by Gloria Oblouk Darovic (ISBN 0721692931).

OMG! I've just finished a book by the same author. It's titled, Handbook of Hemodynamic Monitoring, by Gloria Oblouk Darovic © 2004 ISBN 0721603130. It's not the same according to the ISBN of the book heartICU recommended, but I'm sure it's quite similar.

I've read plenty of books on hemodynamic monitoring and I own the Kathy White book and the book Critical Care Nursing Secrets (both are not bad, not too easy to sit and read mainly good references), but I have to say the book I mention is just awesome! Very readable, unlike many hemodynamic books, this one flows when you read it and really has a way of capturing the reader.

This book is completely heart oriented. It would be especially good for those in CTICU or CCU and for both brand spanking new ICU nurses and those with years of experience.

EXCELLENT.

[begalli]

Another good critical care book I'd like to mention is titled, Clinical Wisdom and Interventions in Critical Care - A Thinking in Action Approach by Patricia Benner, Patricia Hooper-Kyriakidis, and Daphne Stannard, ©1999, ISBN 0721675115. Some may have read Patricia Benner before (Expertise in Nursing Practice, by Benner, et.al, 1996)

The goal of this book is to get those nurses who work in critical care to read the book and spontaneously respond, "you have put into words what I have always known about critical care nursing practice but had not expressed."

The book does not simplify or reduce critical care to principles in an attempt to make it easier to learn/or read. Instead, the book provides an amazingly whole picture enabling the learner/reader to visualize what critical care is really like and to comprehend the expectations placed on critical care nurses.

This book is made of of first-hand accounts of 205 staff and advanced practice nurses. The authors arranged with participating facilities to observe the critical care nurse at work taking first hand accounts of what the nurse is doing through an interview process as things happen (some of the interviews are done with nurses at my CTICU before I started working there! :)). This is THE book that describes for us what we have such a hard time describing - what we do, how we do it, and why. This book is VERY MUCH about critical thinking and clinical judgement based on VERY specific examples (the interviews).

Different in construction from most nursing or medical texts, it takes advantage of the depth of detail and intrigue found in "nurse stories." Every chapter is replete with real-life incidents used to illustrate the complex ideas and ambiguities inherent in caring for the critically ill.

All I can say is this book is excellent! I've read it twice, once just recently and once about 4 years ago. I can guarantee you that every single critical care nurse out there will love this book. I can't recommend it enough, especially for newcomers to nursing and critical care!