The ICU Handbook: A Guide for Patients and Families

Written in a straightforward, readable, and highly informative style, Navigating the ICU: A Guide for Patients and Families is a compact, affordable guide to today's Intensive Care Unit. This unique, patient-focused handbook helps patients and their families navigate the complexities of the ICU--from the role of each member of staff, to common procedures, medications, and laboratory tests, to what to expect after the hospital stay. Author Alex Gottsch, an ICU nurse, clearly explains essential topics, introduces helpful resources, provides answers to common questions, and highlights important considerations for during and after ICU care.

• Provides a single, accessible resource for all patients and families in the high-stress setting of the ICU, where life-changing decisions often need to be made rapidly in an unfamiliar and intimidating environment

• Improves communication between patients, families, and the healthcare team by defining medical terminology, explaining how the ICU works, prompting the right questions to ask, and showing the best ways to accomplish the patient's goals.

• Guides you through the ins and outs of the ICU experience with an intuitive, easy-to-use table of contents and a commonsense glossary to help readers feel more confident and knowledgeable.

• Answers questions you may not have known you had, such as "What is the most important part of the day for me to be present?" and "What Medical Care Would I Want If I Could Not Choose?

• Explains what to expect after the ICU, where recovery takes place, and the resources available to help the patient and family maximally recover

• Includes an interactive workbook so this guide can immediately help the patient and family

• Includes a Foreword by Patricia M. Davidson, Dean Emerita of The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
  

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