Physiological Concepts and the Critically Ill Patient (Book Review).

PHYSIOLOGICAL Concepts & the Critically Ill Patient (Book); ROBERTS, S. L.; INTENSIVE care nursing; NONFICTION

Physiological Concepts and the Critically Ill Patient. S. L,. Roberts, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1985. The author maintains that "critical care nursing" is now a highly specialized area of practice that incorporates the human, physiological, and technological aspects of illness and care. Many patients entering critical care have multiple-system involvement, necessitating an understanding of physiological processes and pathological responses. This book, then, serves as a treatment of the various categories of critically ill patients. Each of the thirteen chapters of the book deals with different aspects of critical care, each with suggested nursing process related thereto. The matter of cariogenic or septic shock is treated in some detail. Emphasis is placed on the notion that the goal for nursing care is to prevent or to stabilize illness and support the family through a physiological crisis; so that a higher level of physical and mental well-being can be achieved. The nursing process is intended as a guide for clinical process, and it includes four separate concerns. (1) Assessment of the problem, (2) formulation of various nursing diagnoses, (3) interventions designed to stabilize or alter the problem, and (4) evaluation of the intervention outcome. A unique aspect of the book is the nursing care model known as FANCAP, a model designed of incorporate all aspects of patient care: fluid, aeration, nutrition, communication, activity, and pain. A final and unique aspect of the book deals with nursing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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