Critical Care Guided Notes Chapter 1-4
Latest 2025
1. 2 professional organizations for critical care nurses:
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)
2. Mission of the AACN: focuses on assisting acute and critical care nurses to attain knowledge
and influence to deliver excellence care
3. Vision of the AACN: supports creating a health care system driven by the needs of patients and
families in which critical care nurses make their optimal contributions, which is described as
synergy (mixture of nurse, system, and patient along with patient characteristics and nurse
competencies)
4. Values of the AACN: accountability, advocacy, integrity, collaboration, leadership, stewardship,
lifelong learning, quality, innovation, and commitment
5. Synergy Model of Care: focuses on the extent to which nurses' competencies match patients'
characteristics
6. Goal of the synergy model: "restore the patient to an optimal level of wellness as defined by the
patient and family"
7. Who can get the CCRN certification: nurses who provide care for critically ill adult, pediatric, or
neonatal populations
8. Who can get the PCCN certification: nurses who provide acute care in progressive care,
telemetry, and similar units
9. What other certifications are available after a nurse gets CCRN or PCCN certified:
subspeciality certification in cardiac medicine or cardiac surgery
10. Who can get the ACCNS certification: acute and critical care clinical nurse specialist
11. Who can get the ACNPC-AG certification: acute care nurse practitioners
12. Why are certifications important?:
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, Validates knowledge of critical care nursing promotes professional excellence
Helps nurse to maintain a current knowledge base
13. What 4 specific projects/organizations are in place to assist nurses in providing safe
care?
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN)
National Patient Safety Goals’ by the Joint Commission
Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) rapid response teams/ medical emergency
teams
14. What measures does the QSEN implement: roadmap for integrating quality and safety
principles into prelicensure nursing education
15. What are the 6 core competencies of the QSEN:
patient-centered care teamwork and collaboration evidence-based practice
quality improvement
informatics safety
16. Purpose of the national patient safety goals:
reduce medical errors and promote an
environment that facilitates safe practices reduce
infections
17. Purpose of the IHI: action plan for reducing health care-associated infections and preventing
infections with multidrug-resistant organisms
18. What organization developed the concept of the bundle: IHI
19. Bundle of care: evidence-based practices that are done as a whole to improve outcomes (ex.
ventilator bundle)
20. Goal of Rapid Response Team: identify and manage both stable and unstable patients and
those at high risk for cardiopulmonary arrest to prevent unnecessary deaths
21. Bundle: a group of interventions related to a disease process that, when executed together,
result in better outcomes than when implemented individually.
22. 4 barriers to effective handoff communication: physical setting social setting language
communication medium
23. Examples of physical setting barriers: background noise, lack of privacy, interruptions
24. Examples of social setting communication barriers: organizational hierarchy and status
issues
25. Examples of language communication barriers: differences between people of varying racial
and ethnic backgrounds or geographic areas
26. Examples of communication medium communication barriers: limitations of
communications via telephone, e-mail, paper, or computerized records versus face-to-face
2/7
Latest 2025
1. 2 professional organizations for critical care nurses:
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)
2. Mission of the AACN: focuses on assisting acute and critical care nurses to attain knowledge
and influence to deliver excellence care
3. Vision of the AACN: supports creating a health care system driven by the needs of patients and
families in which critical care nurses make their optimal contributions, which is described as
synergy (mixture of nurse, system, and patient along with patient characteristics and nurse
competencies)
4. Values of the AACN: accountability, advocacy, integrity, collaboration, leadership, stewardship,
lifelong learning, quality, innovation, and commitment
5. Synergy Model of Care: focuses on the extent to which nurses' competencies match patients'
characteristics
6. Goal of the synergy model: "restore the patient to an optimal level of wellness as defined by the
patient and family"
7. Who can get the CCRN certification: nurses who provide care for critically ill adult, pediatric, or
neonatal populations
8. Who can get the PCCN certification: nurses who provide acute care in progressive care,
telemetry, and similar units
9. What other certifications are available after a nurse gets CCRN or PCCN certified:
subspeciality certification in cardiac medicine or cardiac surgery
10. Who can get the ACCNS certification: acute and critical care clinical nurse specialist
11. Who can get the ACNPC-AG certification: acute care nurse practitioners
12. Why are certifications important?:
1/7
, Validates knowledge of critical care nursing promotes professional excellence
Helps nurse to maintain a current knowledge base
13. What 4 specific projects/organizations are in place to assist nurses in providing safe
care?
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN)
National Patient Safety Goals’ by the Joint Commission
Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) rapid response teams/ medical emergency
teams
14. What measures does the QSEN implement: roadmap for integrating quality and safety
principles into prelicensure nursing education
15. What are the 6 core competencies of the QSEN:
patient-centered care teamwork and collaboration evidence-based practice
quality improvement
informatics safety
16. Purpose of the national patient safety goals:
reduce medical errors and promote an
environment that facilitates safe practices reduce
infections
17. Purpose of the IHI: action plan for reducing health care-associated infections and preventing
infections with multidrug-resistant organisms
18. What organization developed the concept of the bundle: IHI
19. Bundle of care: evidence-based practices that are done as a whole to improve outcomes (ex.
ventilator bundle)
20. Goal of Rapid Response Team: identify and manage both stable and unstable patients and
those at high risk for cardiopulmonary arrest to prevent unnecessary deaths
21. Bundle: a group of interventions related to a disease process that, when executed together,
result in better outcomes than when implemented individually.
22. 4 barriers to effective handoff communication: physical setting social setting language
communication medium
23. Examples of physical setting barriers: background noise, lack of privacy, interruptions
24. Examples of social setting communication barriers: organizational hierarchy and status
issues
25. Examples of language communication barriers: differences between people of varying racial
and ethnic backgrounds or geographic areas
26. Examples of communication medium communication barriers: limitations of
communications via telephone, e-mail, paper, or computerized records versus face-to-face
2/7
