Critical Care Series: Shock

Course overview

Shock is a life-threatening syndrome that must be recognized and treated promptly to prevent critical illness and death. Critical care nurses must be familiar with the various causes and subtypes of shock to effectively identify its presentation and aggressively treat their patients before the condition becomes irreversible. This course introduces the six major subtypes of shock: hypovolemic, cardiogenic, obstructive, septic, anaphylactic, and neurogenic. It describes the basic pathophysiology and stages of shock and provides an overview of current monitoring and treatment guidelines for the critical care setting. The goal of this course is to equip nurses in critical care settings with knowledge of evidence-based practices for recognizing and managing patients with shock.