Lactic acidosis
Chapter 15 Lactic acidosis D J (Jamie) Cooper, Alistair D. Nichol Lactic acidosis is defined by convention as the combination of an increased blood lactate concentration (> 5 mmol/l) and…
Shock – an overview
Chapter 11 Shock – an overview Angela McLuckie DEFINITION Shock is a clinical state, with characteristic symptoms and signs, which occurs when an imbalance between oxygen supply and demand results…
Severity of illness and likely outcome from critical illness
Chapter 3 Severity of illness and likely outcome from critical illness Mark Palazzo At present scoring systems are not sufficiently accurate to make outcome predictions for individual patients. Clinical assessment…
Clinical information systems
Chapter 9 Clinical information systems David Fraenkel Clinical record-keeping requires an integrated system to manage the information, including its acquisition during clinical care, and archiving and availability for future clinical,…
Critical care nursing
Chapter 6 Critical care nursing John R. Welch, Chris Theaker NATURE AND FUNCTION OF CRITICAL CARE NURSING Nurses are the one round-the-clock constant for critically ill patients and their families,…
Physiotherapy in intensive care
Chapter 5 Physiotherapy in intensive care Fiona H. Moffat, Mandy O. Jones Historically, physiotherapy in the intensive care unit (ICU) was confined to the treatment of respiratory problems performed routinely…
Transport of the critically ill
Chapter 4 Transport of the critically ill Evan Everest, Blair Munford All intensive care units (ICUs) are required to move critically ill patients for investigations or procedures that cannot be…
Ethics in intensive care
Chapter 7 Ethics in intensive care Raymond F. Raper, Malcolm McD. Fisher DEFINITION Ethics is the study of how one ought to behave. In contrast, the law defines how one…
Design and organisation of intensive care units
Chapter 1 Design and organisation of intensive care units Felicity Hawker An intensive care unit (ICU) is a specially staffed and equipped area of a hospital dedicated to the management…
