Clinical Issues in Critical Care Nursing

The critical care nurse is faced with challenging issues as patient care is becoming more complex. According to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, patients that once were cared for in a critical care unit are now being cared for at home. Rapid advancement in technology and medicine may have contributed to this, helping to keep more patients out of the hospital setting.

Significance

• A critical care patient is defined as an individual with a life-threatening injury or illness requiring constant attention from a team of specially trained health professionals. Critical care nursing emerged as a result of this. Wherever critically ill patients are found, critical care nurses work. Although certification is not mandatory to be a critical care nurse, many nurses may choose to obtain it. More knowledge is obtained in a specialty area through certification, which can be demonstrated by the application of special skills related to issues arising in various clinical settings or place of employment.

Roles

• Critical care nurses work in a variety of settings and can fulfill many roles. A critical care nurse may choose to specialize in certain types of diseases, medical environments, patients or procedures. Nurses are often referred to as clinical nurse specialists, or CNS in the critical setting. One role that the CNS may take on in the critical setting is a case manager. The case manager provides direct patient care, and is responsible to organize and coordinate interventions when issues arise. Clinical issues may include problems such as complications from surgery, accidents, infections and severe breathing problems.

Responsibilities

• A responsibility of a CNS is making clinical decisions regarding complex patient care. When clinical issues arise, the nurse is responsible for identifying and then implementing treatment to provide better patient care. Another responsibility may include prescribing pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods for health problems.

Education

• To become a critical care nurse, a registered nursing degree must be obtained first. Education and orientation is usually obtained by the employer for the specialty area desired. A degree at the masters or doctoral level is required to be an advanced practice nurse.

Skills

• Assessment skills of the critical care nurse are more focused on a particular area of specialty. This allows the nurse to provide more of an expertise to the area where staffed. New technologies and treatments are introduced as issues to patient care become more complex. According to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, critical care nurses need to become more knowledgeable with the latest information and develop skills to manage with the new treatments and evolving technologies bettering patient care.