What is the primary goal of critical care nursing?

A junior nurse who has not achieved certification in critical care nursing. She often will ask her fellow nurses what to do in caring for a patient because she doubts the accuracy of her knowledge and her intuition. She loves her work but wishes she could do it with a greater level of competence. What is the most important effect that obtaining certification would likely have on the nurse's practice?

A hospital interviews two different candidates for a position in the ICU. Both candidates have around 10 years of experience working in the ICU. Both have excellent interpersonal skills and highly positive references. One, however, has certification in critical care nursing. Which of the following is the most compelling and accurate reason for the hospital to hire the candidate with certification?

A physician checks on a patient in the ICU while the nurse is away. The patient complains that the pain medication isn’t working and asks for a higher dose. The physician consults the nurse, who explains that the patient just started the IV morphine 20 minutes ago and needs more time for it to take effect. The physician agrees and reassures the patient to wait a bit longer. Which component of a healthy work environment is most evident in this scenario?

A nurse in the ICU is responding to a patient who has just gone into cardiac arrest. A moment later, the nurse is notified that another patient has just gone into anaphylactic shock due to a drug allergy. She is conflicted as to what to do, as she is the only nurse available at the moment to tend to both patients. Which component of a healthy work environment is lacking in this scenario?

An ICU nurse has provided excellent care for a 6-year-old girl who had been admitted to the ICU for a head injury. The nurse was attentive not only to the needs of the patient but also went out of her way to care for the needs of the girl's family. Which of the following forms of recognition would the nurse value the most?

A patient in the ICU has recently been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Before being discharged, this patient will require detailed instructions on how to manage her diet, how to self-inject insulin, and how to handle future diabetic emergencies. Which nurse competency is most needed in this situation?

An elderly patient is admitted to the ICU with stage IV lung cancer, diabetes mellitus, and congestive heart failure. The health care team assembled to care for her is large and diverse, including an oncologist, a pulmonologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, and others. The patient is not expected to survive more than a few weeks, and her husband is overwhelmed with stress and grief. Which nurse competency is most needed in this situation? 

A nurse decides to seek certification in critical care nursing. What is the most important benefit for the individual nurse in becoming certified in a specialty?

A nurse has achieved certification in critical care nursing. What is the most important effect that this certification will have on the nurses practice?

A patient is admitted to the critical care unit after receiving a mechanical heart implant. In making a nursing assignment, the charge nurse best demonstrates application of the Synergy Model by assigning which nurse to care for this patient?

A muslim female patient has been admitted to the critical care unit with complications after childbirth. Based on the Synergy Model, which nurse would be the most inappropriate to assign to care for this patient?

The synergy model of practice focuses on:

The family informs you that they have not met the physician since the patient was admitted to the critical care unit, and they have several questions they would like clarified. You contact the physician to express this concern and arrange a meeting between him and the family. Which competency of critical care nursing does this scenario illustrate?

The team leader is responsible for making the assignments for nurses. She assigns the experienced, certified nurse to take a patient with sepsis who also requires continuous renal replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation. She assigns a junior nurse with less than 1 year of experience to a more stable patient. This assignment reflects the implementation of the: