Case Studies in Critical Care Nursing contains detailed and up-to-date case studies on critical care conditions with accompanying questions and answers for applied learning of the practice of critical care nursing. The organization of the book has been changed to mirror that of Thelan's Critical Care Nursing, 4th Edition; the chapters in this 3rd edition are grouped according to body systems. This book allows the reader to hone vital skills necessary in a critical care environment, such as assessment, critical thinking, decision-making, and judgment. Additionally, this text provides an excellent resource to those practitioners who want to update themselves on current critical care practice prior to taking the CCRN examination.

• Each chapter contains the case presentation, questions and answers, and references.
• Each case study includes patient assessment and history of the disorder, laboratory observations and results, and pharmacological options for the patient.
• Comprehensive discussion and evaluation of the critical thinking questions follow each case study.
• Internet resources are included throughout the case studies to further the user's access to information on a variety of disorders.
• Contains an all-inclusive glossary of key critical care abbreviations.

UNIT I: CARDIOVASCULAR ALTERATIONS
1. Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty and Thrombolytic Therapy in Myocardial Infarction
2. Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
3. Cardiogenic Shock and Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction
4. Non-Q-Wave Myocardial Infarction
5. Heart Failure
6. Carotid Endarterectomy
7. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
8. New! Cardiac Trauma and Cardiac Tamponade

UNIT II: PULMONARY ALTERATIONS
9. Pulmonary Embolism
10. Pulmonary Contusion
11. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with Pneumonia
12. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

UNIT III: NEUROLOGIC ALTERATIONS
13. Subarachnoid Hemorrhage with Aneurysm
14. Head Trauma and Subdural Hematoma
15. Epidural Hematoma

UNIT IV: RENAL ALTERATIONS
16. Acute Renal Failure
17. Chronic Renal Failure and Renal Transplantation

UNIT V: GASTROINTESTINAL ALTERATIONS
18. Gastrointestinal Tract Bleeding
19. Acute Pancreatitis
20. Peritonitis
21. Esophageal Varices

UNIT VI: ENDOCRINE ALTERATIONS
22. Adrenal Crisis
23. Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone
24. Diabetic Ketoacidosis

UNIT VII: MULTISYSTEM ALTERATIONS
25. Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome
26. Sepsis/Septic Shock
27. Burns
28. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
29. Blunt Abdominal Trauma
30. New! Hypertensive Crisis/Emergency
31. New! Drug Overdose
32. New! Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
33. New! End of Life Issues

By Sheila Drake Melander, RN, DSN, ACNP-C, FCCM, Associate Professor, Nursing Coordinator, Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program, Department of Nursing, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN