Critical Care Reference Sheet

Advertisements especially in the early 1970s were placed in Heart and Lung by major medical center recruiters for both critical care and progressive care nurses. The progressive care units initially were used to house post myocardial infarction patients who needed critical cardiac monitoring but who did not require intensive care and observation. As the environment of health care start to change, the acuity of patients admitted to the hospital steadily increased and with it the demand for critical care beds also increased.

With an increasing demand for and decreasing availability of critical care beds, the patients were often transferred from critical care units while still requiring an increased level of professional nursing care and vigilance. Patients who were actually admitted to critical care units five years ago are nowadays routinely admitted to progressive care. Progressive care is actually the term that the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) uses to collectively describe areas that are also referred to as Intermediate Care Units, Step-down Units, Direct Observation Units, Telemetry Units, or Transitional Care Units as well as to define a specific level of patient care. AACN or American Association of Critical-Care Nurses recognizes the need to define and identify the special needs of progressive care nurses. A task force and consultative panel were created in the year of 2001, to define the progressive care environment and patient populations served, as well as the core competencies and basic knowledge and skill requirements of progressive care nurses.

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses normally recognizes progressive care unit as part of the continuum of critical care. The vision of American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is dedicated to creating a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and families where critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Synergy Model for critical care is actually the conceptual framework that modifies the vision. It defines nursing practice based on the needs of the critical patient and the characteristics of the nurse to attain optimal patient outcomes.

Progressive care on the other hand defines the care that is delivered to patients whose needs fall along the less acute end of that continuum. Progressive care patients are reasonably stable with less complexity, require moderate resources and require alternating nursing vigilance or are stable with a high potential for becoming unstable and require increased intensity of care and vigilance. Characteristics of the patients of progressive care include a decreased risk of a life-threatening event, a decreased need for invasive monitoring, increased stability, and an increased ability to participate in their care.

Using Synergy Model of The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses will assist in defining the progressive care patient. The Synergy Model actually identifies patients based on the characteristics and needs that they present and not on the location of the bed they occupy. The geographic province of progressive care, as in critical care, is expanding. Care given to progressive care patients is not limited by geography but is based on the needs and required interventions of the patient. While specific progressive care units can normally be identified, patients requiring progressive care nursing can be located throughout the hospital.

• Felicia Byrnes
• 07/01/2009, 8:59 AM
• 0 Comments