An Intensive Care Unit Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

An Intensive Care Unit - Assignment Example Mr X was being cared for in the intensive care unit (ICU) of an urban hospital. One week after admission, the ICU nurse-in-charge of Mr X’s care noticed respiratory distress and fever of unknown origin. The nurse reported it to the attending physician and to the intensive care specialists. The intensive care specialists ordered a new CT scan to re-evaluate the status of the brain, the occipital skull base fracture, the post-operative cervical spine, the condition of the lungs, the abdomen for a possible source of infection and a pelvis examination locating the sacral fracture and the right hip. Mr X was chosen as the case study subject primarily because of the alarming incidence of motorcycle accident worldwide caught the interest of the author and wanted to delineate the multisystem effect of a motorcycle accident to the individual. Clarke, Ward, Bartle and Truman (2004) stated that motorcyclists are at the highest risk for accidents due to poor safety record and the estimate d killed and serious injury rate in the UK per million vehicle kilometers is twice than a pedal cyclist and 16 times than car drivers and passengers (p. 6). Introduction to the Intensive Care Unit An intensive care unit (ICU) refers to a hospital area that uses state-of-the-art technology and aggressive therapy both in invasive and noninvasive monitoring of critically-ill and high-risk patients (Varon and Acosta, 2010, p. 1). Continuous monitoring is necessary and physiological factors affecting the health status of the patient must be reported promptly and on a continuous basis to the attending physician in order to adjust and meet the patient’s health needs. Patients older than 50 years old who suffered from cervical fracture have a 26% mortality rate (Browner, Jupiter, Levine, Trafton, 2003, p. 868). Critical care is offered for patients in the intensive care units in providing advanced life support through modern technology.