Clinical Pocket Reference for Nurses

1. Assessment: Assessment of risk and reporting, ABCDE assessment, The NEWS scoring system chart, The SBAR reporting system. Cardiac Monitoring: Auscultation, Normal heart sounds, Abnormal heart sounds, Procedure, ECG interpretation, Reading electrocardiograms (ECGs), Recording a 12-lead ECG, Common cardiac arrhythmias, Gastrointestinal (GI) and abdominal assessment, Stool Assessment, The Bristol Stool Form Scale, Constipation/laxatives, Laxatives, Neurological assessment, Focused neurological assessment, The Glasgow Coma Scale, Older adult assessment, Ageing and mobility, Observation, Pain, Pain assessment, Common analgesics, Psychological health, Dementia, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Suicide, The Mental Capacity Act, Pressure ulcer risk, Braden Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale, RespiratoryPeak expiratory flow, Respiratory assessment, Oxygen administration, Shock: Definition, Classification; Emergency treatment: general principles, Sepsis assessment (adult), Adult sepsis screening criteria, Urological: Bladder examination, Catheterization assessment, Wound healing and classification, Classification of the wound,Wound healing. 2. Physiological monitoring, Physiological normal values, Measuring BP, CVP and JVPPeripheral blood pressure (BP)Central venous pressure (CVP)Jugular venous pressure (JVP)Fluid and electrolyte balance, Composition of commonly used crystalloids. 3. Biochemistry Key biochemistry values, Other useful biochemistry, Blood Composition and measurement, Cellular composition, Coagulation tests, Blood groups and compatibility; Blood transfusion: protocol and administration, Checklist for every transfusion, Adverse events associated with blood transfusions, Blood gases, Urine values, Urinalysis. 4. Infection control: Hand hygiene, The 5 moments for hand hygiene at the point of care, Infection classification, Prevention of infection, Standard infection control precautions, Hand decontamination, Handwashing technique, Use of personal protective equipment, Waste disposal, Needlestick injury, Aseptic Non-touch Technique (ANTT), Isolation (barrier) nursing, Guidelines for isolation nursing care, Prevention of spread of infection in hospitals. 5. Nutrition: Adult recommended daily nutritional requirements, Nutritional status, The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), Nutritional calculation: waist-to-hip ratio. 6. Drug administration, SI units, Prefixes for SI unitsSI units and energyThe logarithmic scale for acidity/alkalinityCalculating drug dosage/deliveryCalculating intravenous fluid infusion rates, IV fluid infusion rates for fluids with gravity feed drip sets, Drug delivery in infusions and using weight, Calculating IV doses using weight, Golden rules for drug calculation, Parenteral medication administration, Intramuscular injections, Subcutaneous injections. 7. IV therapy: Peripheral and central venous therapy, Direct intermittent injection ('bolus' or 'push'), Continuous infusion, Intermittent infusion, Safety, Intravenous cannulation, IV cannula selection, Complications of IV therapy, Phlebitis, Infiltration, Extravasation, Infection, Intraosseous (IO) therapy, IV flow rates. 8. Resuscitation: Adult basic life support algorithm, In-hospital resuscitation algorithm, Adult advanced life support algorithm, AED algorithm, Anaphylaxis management algorithm, H & Ts, Airway management and choking, Adult choking algorithm, Emergency drugs. 9. Terminology