Nursing case studies in the critical care setting

Abstract

Critical care nursing is a specialty where nurses care for critically ill and unstable patients. The nurse needs to understand how different acute illnesses can affect the human body and how a patient’s comorbidities can affect their condition in the intensive units. Nursing students use case studies to develop a plan of care for these patients and develop critical thinking skills. This project is consistent with five nursing case studies focusing on patients in critical care units or have a high acuity level. The case studies are based on patients from IU Health Hospital Indianapolis from the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Surgical Progressive Care, Transplant Intensive Care, and Medical Intensive Care Unit. Each study is broken down into eleven sections, patient history, course of illness, pathophysiology, assessments, nutrition, diagnostics, nursing diagnosis, drugs and IV solutions, medical interventions, patient safety and quality, and interpretation, analysis, and synthesis. The case studies create a holistic picture of the patient and the nursing care given on that clinical day.