Please Advise

i suppose the biggest difference you are going to see is the pace. acute hospital patients are treated for their acute problems and then discharged. acute hospitals literally mean the patients are supposed to stay less than 30 days. you will see that the focus of their treatment will be on the medical plan. although nursing will have a lot of input as well, the medical plan is what gets the primary focus. so, you'll want to be prepared to know what your patients' diseases are, the customary medical treatments that will be ordered and the nursing responsibilities in carrying out the medical treatment. you will also be assessing the patients for their ability to perform their adls as you did in long term care. in long term care, however, patients and the nurses develop routines. that doesn't necessarily happen in the acute hospitals. patients are in for a few days and then discharged.

you should have access to references to help you learn about the pathophysiology and treatment of the many medical diseases you are going to see. you will need to be looking up medications, lab tests as well as many other types of tests that you are going to see ordered. here is a list of some websites that you should bookmark to help you find some of this information if it isn't in your textbooks:

for sites aimed more at the consumer (easier to read and understand!):

medline plus (use the search box) http://www.medlineplus.gov/

healthfinder (use the search box) http://www.healthfinder.gov/

medicine net diseases & conditions a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/diseases_and_conditions/article.htm

medicine net symptoms & signs a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/symptoms_and_signs/article.htm

medicine net procedures & tests a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/procedures_and_tests/article.htm

health a to z - diseases and conditions page (use the search box) http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requesturi=/healthatoz/atoz/dc/index.jsp

aetna intelihealth (use the search box) http://www.intelihealth.com/ih/ihtih/wsihw000/408/408.html

peacehealth consumer information (use the search box) http://www.peacehealth.org/

emedicinehealth first aid and consumer health information list of topics from a to z http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=60185

encyclopedia of surgery http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/index.html

lab tests online http://www.labtestsonline.org/

for sites aimed more at healthcare personnel:

merck manual of diagnosis and therapy (use search box) http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sections.jsp

family practice notebook (use search box) http://www.fpnotebook.com/index.htm

medicine net diseases & conditions a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/diseases_and_conditions/article.htm

cleveland clinic disease management project (only major diseases)http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/diseasemanagement/medicineindex.htm

emedicine http://www.emedicine.com/ (you may have to register to view articles, but registration is free)

web md index list of tests http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/medical_tests.htm

web md index list of medical conditions http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/health_topics.htm

web md index list of symptoms http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/health_symptoms.htm

surgical tutor.org (links are at left and top of page) http://www.surgical-tutor.org.uk/default-home.htm?core/trauma/shock.htm~right