Dimens Crit Care Nurs

Esophageal cancer: multisystem nursing management.

Gregoire AS. Fitzpatrick ER.
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
Esophageal cancer is a challenging disease with a multisystem impact on patients. Critical care nurses, case managers, and advanced practice nurses manage these patients through an aggressive preoperative diagnostic phase, surgical intervention, and postoperative course. Coordination of care requires collaboration, with critical care and advanced practice nurses playing a central role. Patients need close post-operative assessments and interventions to minimize complications.

Fulminant hepatic failure in acute acetaminophen overdose.

Year 1998
Artnak KE. Wilkinson SS.
Department of Nursing, Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas, USA. kathryn.artnak@angelo.edu
Fulminant hepatic failure is a serious complication of acetaminophen overdose. The cascade of complications starts with an alert patient that can quickly result in hepatic coma and even death. The nurse completes a poisoning history, provides an antidote, and assesses the extent of hepatic failure from an overdose. This article uses a case study to describe the problems and nursing care for the patient with hepatic failure from acetaminophen overdose. Advanced assessment skills by the critical care nurse enable prompt recognition of postoverdose complications for early intervention and treatment. Acute care nurse practitioners, utilizing the same techniques, can develop protocols for emergency or intensive care units where these patients may be admitted and subsequently cared for.