Reference no: EM133607810

Question: Think about assessing a patient on a regular medical/ surgical unit. Most patients come in for a single problem and are generally awake, alert, and somewhat oriented, not on telemetry monitoring, and have bathroom privileges. They have one IV, no fluids running, and are on room air. What types of assessment data would be of highest priority to you if you were taking care of one of these patients? What systems would you focus on? Now think about a "typical" ICU patient. Most patients require multiple modalities of support, many times including mechanical ventilation, multiple IV medication drips, and sometimes even more. How do your assessments differ between these two types of patients? How do you approach the critically ill patient differently than the step down medical surgical client? What are your priorities and how do they differ? What types of things do you need to think about when assessing a critical client, and what systems do you focus on?