Medical-Surgical Nursing Care

For courses in Licensed Practical/Vocational Nursing programs. Answers the question, what do practical vocational nurses need to know and to be able to do in order to deliver safe and effective medical-surgical nursing care? This comprehensive text prepares basic practical/vocational nursing students to care for adult clients with medical or surgical disorders or diseases. With an emphasis on the nursing role, it explains the risk factors, causes, and pathophysiology of common disorders and diseases, and reviews diagnostic tests and medical management of the disorders. A focus on nursing care is presented in a nursing process formatincluding assessment data to collect, nursing diagnoses with suggested interventions and their rationales, and evaluation data to determine the effectiveness of nursing care.

The need for nurses is greater than ever before. There are no short-term solutions to this problem: as currently practicing nurses age and retire, so does the population as a whole, further increasing the need for health care services. Today, more than ever before, we need you, the nursing student, to succeed in your studies. Today, more than ever before, we need you, the nursing student, to enter the nursing profession. Today, more than ever before, we need you, the nursing student, to see nursing as a career, not just a job. This hook is dedicated to your success as a student and as a practicing nurse. We believe a strong foundation in understanding the common diseases and disorders that affect adult clients is necessary to provide effective nursing care. We believe that understanding the basis for nursing care activities is vital to providing individualized care for clients. We believe that client teaching is a vital nursing role at all levels and in all settings.Medical-Surgical Nursing Careprovides a strong foundation for caring through its emphasis on pathophysiology, nursing care, and client teaching. Understanding comes not through memorization, but through practice and integration of new material into your thinking.Medical-Surgical Nursing Carepromotes understanding in several ways. The writing style is clear, with a focus on readability. Its content is streamlined but thorough, focusing on what youneed to know and to be able to do. Organization Medical-Surgical Nursing Careis organized to promote learning. Part One, Medical-Surgical Nursing Practice, focuses on concepts, issues, and nursing care applicable to caring for adults in many different situations and settings. Parts Two through Seven focus on diseases and disorders affecting adults. These disorders are organized by functional health patterns (for example, nutritional-metabolic, activity-exercise) and by affected body systems under each functional health pattern (for example, common skin problems, bowel disorders, cardiac disorders). Each chapter begins with aCaring Tipthat provides words of wisdom from the lived experience of a practicing nursing or nurse educator. You will be able to use these tips as you move into and through your career in nursing.Learning Outcomeshelp focus and define your learning as you read and study the material. The structure and function of the affected body system is reviewed at the beginning of the chapter. Disorders affecting that body system are presented in a consistent format: the disorder is defined; itsPathophysiology,signs and symptoms, and complications are explained; andCollaborative Care(including diagnostic tests, pharmacology, surgery, and other treatments) for the disorder is outlined.Nursing Carerelated to the disorder is presented in a nursing process format. When a disorder is major, very complex, or very common, all of theNursing Processsteps are provided. When it is not, the text provides an abbreviated, more focused discussion, similar to the focused assessment nurses perform. Because teaching is a vital nursing role, discussion of each disorder concludes withDischarge Considerationsand teaching for the client and family. Case Studiesfollowing many major disorders bring the disorders to life. Clients rarely arrive in a health care setting as a pure medical diagnosis. As humans, clients bring all their roles and responsibilities as individuals, spouses, parents, children, workers, students, friends, and volunteers. They arrive as unique individuals influenced by their ethnicity, culture, and background. They arrive with psychosocial issues such as fear, guilt, or difficulty meeting financial responsibilities. They often arrive with other diseases and disorders complicating the current problem. The case studies in this text emphasize the holistic asp