Nursing In Critical Care Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nursing In Critical Care - Case Study Example Patients benefit from such practices and procedures; however, there are instances when these processes and procedures are not adequately carried out during the practice. In the emergency department, critically ill patients are often encountered and they often end up being referred to the intensive care unit. Assessments in the emergency unit are carried out on these patients. Such processes yield essential information pertinent to the patient’s care. After such data is gathered and the patient is referred to the ICU staff, information is then handed over to the ICU staff. In some instances, however, the information handed over is incomplete or is not adequately explained to the nurses in the ICU. Such a situation represents a failure of communication between the two nursing teams. In some instances, essential information is not turned over to the critical care nurses because the focus seems to be on the critical condition of the patient. Aside from incomplete information relay ed, there also seems to be a lack of clarity on the data transmitted during the handover process. The handover has been highlighted in the emergency unit I am currently working with as an important process. I have been taught that it can influence the quality and continuity of patient care. Even with these instructions, however, there are still many instances when there are issues and incomplete data transmitted during the handover process. Based on these considerations, it is safe to assume that there are gaps in our current knowledge and practice, especially in terms of patient handover to intensive care nurses. This paper shall seek to establish the possible factors affecting an effective handover process and the different gaps and issues seen in the practice and the application of this procedure.