Thinking Like an ICU Nurse Can Drive You Crazy

Every ICU nurse remembers the first night the monitor said fine and the patient didn't look fine. Written by two nurses, Nora Vega, MSN, RN, CCRN, and Daniel LaRusso, BSN, RN, CDN, this book bridges the gap between your nursing textbook and your first shift on your own in the intensive care unit. Follow Tess, the experienced nurse who looks at the patient before the screen, and Jamie, the new ICU nurse learning to trust what she sees, through nineteen fictional shifts. You'll learn to read trends instead of single numbers, make SBAR calls that get a yes and know when to climb the chain of command, handle drips, pressors and sedation without panic, and spot sepsis, breathing trouble, new rhythms, hidden bleeding, delirium, heart failure, high potassium, DKA and the first-day problems after surgery. Every chapter includes a real-feeling case, the habits expert critical care nurses use, a memory aid, and a one-page Pocket Page checklist, with references to current guidelines including the 2026 Surviving Sepsis Campaign and the 2025 American Heart Association guidelines. Written for new ICU nurses, nursing students, nurses moving into critical care, and anyone preparing for the CCRN® exam, with game shows, a pump choir and plenty of humor, because nurses remember what makes them laugh.