*Remember: The exam questions will test more of the higher level thinking skills (application, analyzing and evaluating) and fewer lower level (remembering, understanding), within the nursing process, teamwork/collaboration, patient-centered care and QSEN application.
Critical care IV medication and formula calculations
Enteral feedings for critically ill patients
Pharmacodynamics (and nursing implications) for the following medications (generic/brand names): morphine, fentanyl, Versed, Lorazapam, Propofol, Procainamide, lidocaine, magnesium, atropine, Adenosine, digoxin, epinephrine, dopamine, amiodarone, Romazicon, Narcan, Haldol, Apresoline, Pronestyl, Nitroglycerin, sodium nitroprusside, ACE inhibitors, anti-cholinergics, calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers.
Critical care units (types/levels)
Family needs of critically ill patients
Ethical considerations in nursing care
Moral distress
Compassion fatigue
AACN Synergy Model
Nursing care errors in critical care
SBAR communication
Communication with patients and families
Nursing critical care assessment tools, i.e. CPOT, CAM-ICU, Critical Care Pain Observation tool, VAMASS
Care of patients with ALI/ARDS, respiratory failure, VAP
VAP bundles
Management of intubated patients and patients on mechanical ventilation/ noninvasive ventilation
Interpretation of ABGs
Ventilation perfusion relationships
Oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve
Shift to the right: decreased hemoglobin affinity for oxygen exists; therefore oxygen is more readily released to the tissues. Can be caused by acidemia, increased temperature, anemia, chronic hypoxemia, and low cardiac output states. When conditions exist where the curve has shifted to the right, the PaO2 is higher than expected at the normal curve.
Shift to the left: hemoglobin affinity for oxygen increases and hemoglobin clings to oxygen. Can be caused by alkalemia, decreased temperature, high altitude, carbon monoxide poisoning, administration of