21360 - Critical Care Nursing (BO2)

Academic Year 2021/2022

Course contents

• Definition of the key-concept of "critical care"
• Characteristics of the intensive care units (structure, equipment, staffing)
• Monitoring in the intensive care unit

• Tools and evaluation scales in the critical care setting:
  • Glasgow Coma Scale - GCS
  • Richmond Agitation e Sedation Scale (RASS)
  • Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS)
  • Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT)
  • Braden scale and risk assessment of pressure injuries
  • Prehospital emergency medical systems: history, legislation, organization and future persepctives

• Patients’ care in the prehospital emergency setting:
  • nursing algorithms (Emilia-Romagna region, 2016)
  • ABCDE approach
  • chest pain nursing management
  • trauma
  • cardiac arrest
  • pain treatment in the prehospital environment

• Nursing care in the Emergency Department: Triage and fast-track pathways: stroke, trauma, and acute coronary syndromes

• Airway management, from basic to advances techniques: oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal cannulae, tracheal intubation, extra-glottic devices (laryngeal tube, laryngeal mask), tracheal introducers, optical laryngoscopes, fibroscopy and fiberoptic intubation

• Mechanical ventilation:
  • pressure-control and volume-control, controlled and assisted modalities, materials and nursing management (pulmonary ventilators, circuits, tracheal suctioning, humidification systems)
• Non-invasive ventilation (NIV):
  • modalities (CPAP and Bi-Level), devices (face masks, nasal masks, and helmet) and nursing management
    

• Nursing for neurosurgical patients and traumatic brain injuries
• Intracranic pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure monitoring
• Drainages

• Vascular accesses in the emergency setting and in the intensive care unit:
  • central venous catheters (CICC, FICC, PICC), rationale and management
  • arterial catheters and invasive pressure monitoring
  • Intraosseous access

• Patient care in the intensive care unit
  • Interventional Patient Hygiene Model
  • Body hygiene and skin care
  • Eye care
  • Oral care

• CRRT – continuous renal replacement therapy, indications, methods, materials and nursing management

• Patient’s centered care in the critical setting
  • Characteristic of patients in the ICU setting: complications and preventive strategies
  • Prevention of health care associated infections in the ICU setting
  • Delirium in the critically ill patient
  • Nutritional facts in the ICU
  • ACBDE bundle

Office hours

See the website of Guglielmo Imbriaco