Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

4 Year Nursing Degree Programme (BSc Cur) General Nursing

NU3G06 Acute Care Nursing (5 ECTS)

Learning Outcomes

Following completion of this module the student should be able to:

Units 1 and 4

Critically discuss the nursing assessment, individualised care planning and associated nursing interventions for patients experiencing
Acute/critical illness,
Trauma alterations in tissue viability and burn injuries

Unit 3

Critically discuss the role of the nurse in relation to Care in drug administration

Module Learning Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce the student to theory underpinning the care of patients
experiencing a deterioration in health related to acute illness, trauma burns & tissue viability and to
facilitate and expand knowledge in relation to drug administration.
The module is presented in four units of study, as follows:

Unit 1 Nursing care of the acutely ill patient
Unit 2 Care in drug administration
Unit 3 Nursing in tissue viability

Recommended Reading List

An Bord Altranais, 2007, Guidance to Nurses and Midwives on Medication Management http://www.nursingboard.ie
Brady, A-M., Malone, A-M., Fleming, S. (2009) A literature review on the individual and systems factors that contribute to the medication errors in nursing practice Journal of Nursing Management 17(6):679-697
Creed, F. & Spiers, C. (2010) Care of the Acutely Ill Patient. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Marino, P.L. (2007) The ICU Book, 3rd edn. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia.
Dougherty L., Lister S. (2008) The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Wiley-Blackwell. London
Howard, P.K. & Steinmann, R.A. (2010) Sheehy’s Emergency Nursing Principles and Practice, 6th Edition. Mosby Elsevier, Philadelphia.
MacArthur-Rouse, F. & Prosser, S. (2007). Assessing and Managing the Acutely Ill Adult Surgical Patient. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Nehyba, K. (2007). Continuous airway pressure ventilation: part 1 Physiology and patient care. British Journal of Nursing. 1 (12) 575- 579.
Nehyba, K. (2007). Continuous airway pressure ventilation: part 2 Indications and contradindications. British Journal of Nursing 2 (1) 18-24.
Perel, P. & Roberts, I. (2007) Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill patients.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD000567. DOI:10.1002/14651858. CD000567.pub3.
Smeltzer,S.& Bare,B. (2010) Brunner & Suddarth’sTextbook of Medical Surgical Nursing (10thEdn).Philadelphia:Lippincott.
Schierhout, G. & Roberts, I. (1998) Fluid resuscitation with colloid or crystalloid solutions in critically ill patient: as systematic review of randomised trails BMJ 316:961-964