title: Incorporating the treatment of medical and psychiatric disorders in the critical care area.
abstract: Critical care areas are fast moving, often chaotic, and therefore confusing, even frightening, to patients attempting to understand what has happened to them. The nurse acts to mitigate these reactions by understanding the range of possibilities that can occur with patients, including potential psychiatric issues, and serving as patient advocate to ensure that appropriate treatment is initiated. Certainly there may be other psychiatric problems not described in the preceding text. The main possibilities are covered in this article. Assessing and acting early are tools the critical care nurse uses to meet patient needs and prevent behavioral problems that can interfere with life-preserving care.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Programs, School of Nursing, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07101, USA. patuskkl@umdnj.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Patusky
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Unkle
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruck
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing; D015897:Comorbidity; D003422:Critical Care; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing*; D010347:Patient Care Planning