Priorities in Critical Care Nursing

Focus on the most important concepts in progressive and critical care nursing with Priorities in Critical Care Nursing, 9th Edition. Ideal for students, practicing nurses undergoing in-service training for progressive and critical care, and progressive or critical care nurses reviewing for PCCN® or CCRN® certification, this trusted, evidence-based textbook uses the latest, most authoritative research to help you identify patient priorities in order to safely and expertly manage patient care. Succinct coverage of all core progressive and critical care nursing topics includes medications, patient safety, patient education, problem identification, and interprofessional collaborative management. You will learn how to integrate the technology of progressive and critical care with the physiological needs and psychosocial concerns of patients and families to provide the highest-quality care.



Need-to-know content reflects the realities of today’s progressive and critical care environments.
UNIQUE! Balanced coverage of technology and psychosocial concerns includes an emphasis on patient care priorities to help you learn to provide the highest-quality nursing care.
Consistent format features a Clinical Assessment and Diagnostic Procedures chapter followed by one or more Disorders and Therapeutic Management chapters for each content area.
Strong quality and safety focus throughout includes Evidence-Based Practice boxes that highlight evidence specific to the discussion; Patient-Centered Care boxes that provide recommendations to address patient uniqueness; Quality Improvement boxes describing quality initiatives and implications for practice; Teamwork and Collaboration boxes that provide guidelines for effective handoffs, assessments, and communication between nurses and other hospital staff; Safety boxes that highlight important guidelines and tips to ensure patient safety in critical care settings; and Informatics boxes that provide additional online resources.
Patient Care Management Plans at the end of the book provide a complete care plan for every priority patient problem, including outcome criteria, nursing interventions, and rationales.
Priority Patient and Family Education Plan boxes list priority topics to be taught to the patient and family prior to discharge.



UPDATED! Content reflects the latest evidence-based guidelines and national and international treatment protocols.
NEW! Expanded coverage of self-care for healthcare professionals is consistent with the 2020-2030 Future of Nursing report.
UNIQUE! Facilitating Care Transitions chapter provides guidance to ensure patient safety through all phases and locations of care transitions to other departments and discharge, including patient and family education.
NEW! Trending Priorities in Healthcare boxes highlight trends and issues inherent in society that affect health care as it is delivered throughout various sites and geographical settings, such as limited English proficiency (LEP), homelessness, and external disaster preparedness.
NEW! Greater emphasis on the psychosocial and spiritual wellbeing of critical care patients.
NEW! Algorithms facilitate the use of multiple data points to design the most evidence-based, accurate, and timely plans of care, including three new algorithms in this edition for Protein Calorie Malnutrition, Burns, and Pulmonary Embolus.
NEW! Introduction of International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP) diagnoses provides a structured vocabulary to capture patient diagnosis and facilitate patient care management to address those health issues.
NEW! Case studies for the Next Generation NCLEX® on the companion Evolve website help you prepare for the revolutionary changes coming to the NCLEX® Exam.
NEW! Coverage of key trends includes content on the opioid epidemic, special considerations for bariatric patients, acute chest syndrome, and COVID-19.