This book helps adult nursing students to competently manage care of critically and acutely ill patients, and to recognise and deal with the early signs of deterioration. The book takes a practical real-life approach to care, with each chapter focusing on patients with specific problems, then interweaving the knowledge and skills needed to care for that patient. The book focuses on developing clinical assessment and decision-making skills so that students are able to care for patients who are unstable, deteriorating or critically ill, regardless of their location.

Desi Tait is senior lecturer and Year leader for BSc Nursing in the Faculty for Health and Social Care at Bournemouth University. Desi has over 30 years experience in the practice, theory and education of adult acute and critical care nursing and facilitates critical care education at both undergraduate and post graduate levels. She has a particular interest in the use of blended learning strategies in critical care undergraduate education and is involved in developing and evaluating innovative ways to facilitate student learning by adopting a practice based approach to education. Desi completed her doctorate in the study of nurses' experience of recognizing and managing clinical deterioration in patients in hospital in 2009 and this continues to be an area of clinical interest.

Chapter 1: Assessing, Recognising and Responding to Acute and Critical Illness
Chapter 2: The Breathless Patient
Chapter 3: The Patient who Needs Respiratory Support
Chapter 4: The Patient with Chest Pain
Chapter 5: The Patient in Pain
Chapter 6: The Patient in Shock
Chapter 7: The Patient with Sepsis and Distributive Shock
Chapter 8: The Patient with Delirium
Chapter 9: The Patient with Acute Kidney Injury
Chapter 10: The Patient with Physiological Trauma
Chapter 11: The Patient with Altered Consciousness
Chapter 12: The Patient with an Endocrine Disorder
Chapter 13: Conclusion: Lessons Learned - An Action Plan for Practice