Fast Facts About Stroke Care for the Advanced Practice Nurse

Kathy J. Morrison, MSN, RN, SCRN, FAHA is a certified stroke nurse, a Fellow of the American Heart Association, and a recipient of the prestigious Pennsylvania State Nightingale Award for Clinical Nursing Excellence. As the stroke program manager for the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, she oversaw all aspects of stroke care, from prehospital through stroke clinic follow-up until her retirement in 2021. She played a pivotal role in Penn State Hershey Medical Center's attainment of The Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center certification and has mentored many stroke program coordinators through the process of attaining Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Center certification. Ms. Morrison also served on The Joint Commission Expert Panel for Stroke Center certification standards. Ms. Morrison's published works have appeared in nursing journals and neuroscience course curricula. Her books Fast Facts for Stroke Care Nursing 1st & 2nd editions, Stroke Certification Study Guide for Nurses and Stroke Nursing Certification Review have been well received in the nursing community, both as handy guides for stroke care nurses and as preparation tools for the SCRN® certification exam. Even in retirement, she remains active in leading SCRN® review courses, participating in community stroke awareness campaigns and facilitating a regional stroke survivor support group. She established the Stroke Coordinators of Pennsylvania (SCoPA) in 2010--a group of stroke coordinators whose collaborative work has resulted in significant improvements in stroke care and outcomes in community hospitals across central Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, a member of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, a board member of the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses and a board member of the Stroke Survivors Foundation. Diane McLaughlin DNP, AGACNP-BC, CCRN, FNCS, FCCM is an acute care nurse practitioner at Mayo Clinic Florida and Baptist Medical Center Lyerly Neurocritical Care. She specializes in the field of neurocritical care and is a world expert and international speaker on topics such as stroke, advanced practice provider (APP) training and point-of-care ultrasound. She is active in healthcare, particularly in her work with the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), serving on Strategic Planning, Congress Program Planning, ACCM Awards, and Social Media Committees. She is a member of the American College of Critical Care Medicine as a Fellow of Critical Care Medicine, which is a designation honoring practitioners who have made outstanding contributions in critical care. Dr. McLaughlin is a member of the Neurocritical Care Society Guidelines committee and former APP Leadership committee and serves as a Social Media Ambassador for the Neurocritical Care Journal. She was also inducted as a Fellow of Neurocritical Care in 2022. She is the only nurse practitioner currently holding both FCCM and FNCS accolades. She is passionate about APP training and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. She spends much of her free time helping to advance the role of the critical care advanced practice provider at the bedside. She is knowledgeable in research and academia, with many publications, presentations, book chapters and authored Fast Facts about Neurocritical Care for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, Fast Fact about Stroke for Advanced Nurses, and now Fast Facts about Cardiac Surgery Nursing. She was a 2024 honoree of the University of Florida as one of the 40 Gators Under 40.

PART I: Introduction


Chapter 1: The Role of the APP in Stroke Care


PART II: Foundations of Stroke Care


Chapter 2: Stroke Care Evolution


Chapter 3: Advanced Anatomy & Physiology


Chapter 4: Associated Stroke Disorders & Stroke Mimics


PART III: Diagnostics and Assessment


Chapter 5: Neurological and Functional Assessment in Stroke


Chapter 6: Diagnostic Stroke Work-up


PART IV: Diagnostics and Assessment


Chapter 7: Emergency Care: Prehospital and in the Emergency Department


Chapter 8: Endovascular and Surgical Management of Stroke


Chapter 9: ICU Stroke Care


Chapter 10: Critical Care Pharmacology


Chapter 11: Stroke Unit Care


Chapter 12: Telestroke


Chapter 13: End of Life Care


PART V: Education and Research


Chapter 14: Primary and Secondary Stroke Prevention


Chapter 15: Provider and Staff Education and Competence


Chapter 16: Quality Metrics, Data Use and Guidelines


Chapter 17: Stroke Research and the Advanced Practice Provider


Glossary