Includes bibliographical references and index.

Critical care nursing practice: promoting excellence through caring, collaboration, and evidence -- The patient's experience with critical illness -- The family's experience with critical illness -- Patient and family education in critical care -- Relieving pain and providing comfort -- Palliative care and end-of-life issues in critical care -- Ethical issues in critical care nursing -- Legal issues in critical care nursing -- Building a professional practice model for excellence in critical care nursing -- The critically ill pediatric patient -- The critically ill pregnant woman -- The critically ill older patient -- The postanesthesia patient -- Rapid response teams and transport of the critically ill patient -- Disaster management: implications for the critical care nurse -- Anatomy and physiology of the cardiovasular system -- Patient assessment: cardiovascular system -- Patient management: cardiovascular system -- Common cardiovascular disorders -- Heart failure -- Acute myocardial infarction -- Cardiac surgery -- Anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system -- Patient assessment: respiratory system -- Patient management: respiratory system -- Common respiratory disorders -- Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome -- Anatomy and physiology of the renal system -- Patient assessment: renal system -- Patient management: renal system -- Renal failure -- Anatomy and physiology of the nervous system -- Patient assessment: nervous system -- Patient management: nervous system -- Common neurosurgical and neurological disorders -- Traumatic brain injury -- Spinal cord injury -- Anatomy and physiology of the gastrointestinal system -- Patient assessment: gastrointestinal system -- Patient management: gastrointestinal system -- Common gastrointestinal disorders -- Anatomy and physiology of the endocrine system -- Patient assessment: endocrine system -- Common endocrine disorders -- Anatomy and physiology of the hematological and immune systems -- Patient assessment: hematological and immune systems -- Organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation -- Common immunological disorders -- Common hematological disorders -- Anatomy and physiology of the integumentary system -- Patient assessment: integumentary system -- Patient management: integumentary system -- Burns and common integumentary disorders -- Shock, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome -- Trauma -- Drug overdose and poisoning.