High-Acuity Nursing

About our authors Kathleen Wagner, EdD, MSN, RN, is now faculty emerita, having recently retired from the University of Kentucky College of Nursing after many years of teaching pathophysiology, pathopharmacology and high-acuity nursing to undergraduate nursing students. She was also the educational consultant for the undergraduate nursing program at the University of Kentucky. She has a doctorate in instructional systems design and continues to work on a team developing web-based clinical simulations for nursing students.Melanie Hardin-Pierce, DNP, RN, APRN, ACNP-BC, is a tenured associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, where she has over 30 years of experience as a critical care nurse and has taught high-acuity nursing to undergraduate and graduate nursing students. She currently teaches in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program and is the coordinator of the Adult Geriatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner DNP Option. In addition to teaching, she has been active in curriculum development in both baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at the University of Kentucky, having studied oral health in mechanically ventilated patients. She is a board-certified acute care nurse practitioner who practices as a critical care intensivist in the Veterans Health Administration Medical Center, Cooper Drive Division, Lexington. She is active in research of evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients.Darlene Welsh, PhD, MSN, RN, is Associate Professor, BSN Program Director, and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Faculty Affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. Dr. Welsh earned a PhD in Educational Psychology and an MS in Nursing from the University of Kentucky. Her experience in the care of critically ill patients includes direct patient care, the conduct of research, and supervision of undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests center on the provision of dietary instruction for patients with heart failure as well as interprofessional education for clinicians.

• PART 1: INTRODUCTION TO HIGH-ACUITY NURSING1. High-Acuity Nursing2. Holistic Care of the Patient and Family3. Palliative and End-of-life Care4. The Older Adult High-Acuity PatientPART 2: THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT OF THE HIGH-ACUITY PATIENT5. Acute Pain Management6. Nutrition Support7. Mechanical Ventilation8. Basic Hemodynamic Monitoring9. Basic Cardiac Rhythm Monitoring10. Complex Wound ManagementPART 3: PULMONARY11. Determinants and Assessment of Pulmonary Function12. Alterations in Pulmonary FunctionPART 4: CARDIOVASCULAR13. Determinants and Assessment of Cardiac Function14. Alterations in Cardiac Function15. Alterations in Myocardial Tissue PerfusionPART 5: NEUROLOGIC16. Determinants and Assessment of Cerebral Function17. Mentation and Sensory Motor Complications of Acute Illness18. Acute Stroke Injury19. Traumatic Brain Injury20. Acute Spinal Cord InjuryPART 6: GASTROINTESTINAL21. Determinants and Assessment of Gastrointestinal Function22. Alterations in Gastrointestinal Function23. Alterations in Liver Function24. Alterations in Pancreatic FunctionPART 7: FLUID AND ELECTROLYTES25. Determinants and Assessment of Fluid and Electrolyte Balance26. Alterations in Fluid and Electrolyte Balance27. Alterations in Kidney FunctionPART 8: HEMATOLOGIC28. Determinants and Assessment of Hematologic Function29. Alterations in Red Blood Cell Function and Hemostasis30. Alterations in White Blood Cell Function and Oncologic EmergenciesPART 9: NUTRITION AND METABOLISM31. Determinants and Assessment of Nutrition and Metabolic Function32. Metabolic Response to Stress33. Diabetic CrisesPART 10: MULTISYSTEM DYSFUNCTION34. Determinants and Assessment of Oxygenation35. Multiple Trauma36. Acute Burn Injury37. Shock States38. Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome39. Solid Organ and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation