O doente em situação grave

Abstract

This report occurs in the framework of the Master's Degree in Nursing, which refers specifically to the development, acquisition and integration of knowledge for specialized nursing care in the Medical-Surgical Nursing area to adults and elderies in severe or critical condition. The report summarizes all the work done during the probationary period, whose activity was developed in the Polyvalent Intensive Care Unit at Hospital Pedro Hispano, in the Emergency Room of Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro and in the Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica. The contexts in which the clinical practice was developed revealed themselves to be privileged places of observation and learning, allowing the implementation of knowledge, values and capacity to lead the practice of nursing excellence. The probation developed in the Polyvalent Intensive Care Unit allowed the acquisition and development of skills in providing care to critically ill patients with imminent or established (multiple) organ failure. Regarding the Emergency Room’s probation, it allowed for the development of skills in providing care to patients in critical condition in a holistic way. Furthermore, it allowed the identification of needs as well as instability points or organ failure risk, while establishing the respective priorities. During this time, the nurses were also advised to maintain good care practices in the framework of prevention and infection control. At last, the probation developed at the National Institute for Medical Emergency allowed the acquisition and development of skills in providing care in the prehospital environment in the case of sudden disease or accident. During this probationary period, not only patient, but also family communication skills were developed, allowing the foundation of humanized care to be built. The report is organized according to the competences pre-established by the course’s study plan, indicating, for each of them, the activities developed over the three modules of probation, since it enables the development of care taking skills and management of care. By doing this, it gives visibility to the various activities carried out as well as to different responses given to the same competence developed in each probation module. Therefore, this report appears as a critical reflection of the main activities as well as acquired competences, based on scientific pillars. There is also an intent to report the difficulties felt and showing, in a critical way, the contribution of this probation to the development and perfectioning of a professional nurse.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria Rocha (Supervisor)