August 2002 28:4 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING 349

N U R S E E D U C A T O R

This article includes information about some Websites that I have found to be useful resources in car-ing for critically ill and injured patients. These sites

provide information and links to resources on critical inter-ventions and medications, ventilators, cardiac disease, arrhyth-mias, continuing education, and even some much-neededhumor.

No listing of critical care Web sites would be completewithout mention of www.icufaqs.org. I do not rememberhow I initially came upon this site, but I have never beendisappointed by its content. It is an excellent site, full ofcritical care information written by an experienced criticalcare nurse. Initially intended as a supplement for new criti-cal care nurses during their orientation, this site is a great re-source, even for veterans. It is presented in an easy-to-readformat using case studies and questions and answers, betterknown as “frequently asked questions” (FAQs). This siteprovides information on cardiac dysrhythmias, pacemakers,critical care medications, ventilators and arterial blood gasvalues, chest tubes, and much more.

Another nurse-written Web site is www.cardiac-beat.com. Focused on cardiac care, it provides a mix of resources,including links to several Web sites where examples of heartsounds, heart murmurs, and lung sounds can be heard. Youcan learn about cardiac medications, arrhythmias, and in-terventions used for cardiac patients at this site.

Gloria’s Critical Care Resources, at w3.one.net/~gloriamc/,is another great resource. This Web site provides links to awealth of other sites on critical care, emergency nursing,and pediatrics. The site, which is nicely designed and easilymaneuvered through, also has content on the history ofnursing and even some nursing humor.

Critical Care Web Sites

Author: Robin Walsh, RN, BSN, Leverett, Mass

Section Editors: Faye Everson, RN, and Jeanne Ulmer, RN, BSN

Robin Walsh, Pioneer Valley Chapter, is Triage/Observation Nurse,University Health Services, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.

For reprints, write: Robin Walsh, RN, BSN, 76 Cushman Rd, Leverett,MA 01054; E-mail: rwrn627@aol.com.

J Emerg Nurs 2002;28:349-50.

Copyright © 2002 by the Emergency Nurses Association.

0099-1767/2002 $35.00 +0 18/9/125633doi:10.1067/men.2002.125633

350 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING 28:4 August 2002

NURSE EDUCATOR/Walsh

The Critical Caring page at www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/8100/index.html has a great home page… a picture of the Webmaster’s hospital. You link to the dif-ferent specialties by pointing and clicking at its location inthe building. You can visit the ICU/CCU, the emergencydepartment, the respiratory department, the pharmacy, andeven the Rape Crisis Center. This site has some excellentlinks to sites with patient simulations and auscultatory ex-amples. The quality of these sounds is incredible!

No listing of critical care Web siteswould be complete without mention ofwww.icufaqs.org.

“What is a ventilator?” Find the answer to this questionand everything else you need to know about mechanicalventilation at www.ventworld.com/. This site provides newson current respiratory therapy, journal articles and ab-stracts, respiratory equipment, upcoming conferences, andcase studies. Examples of currently featured articles are:“Understanding Mechanical Ventilators,” “Evolution of Pe-diatric Ventilators,” and “Understanding the Oxyhemoglo-bin Dissociation Curve.”

“Nurse Bob’s Guide to Surviving the Night Shift” canbe found at rnbob.tripod.com. Nurse Bob’s MICU/CCUSurvival Guide offers resources for critical care concepts,hemodynamics, nursing tools, cardiology references, pa-tient education, and critical care pharmacology. This site isinteresting and well designed. It is full of information fornew and experienced nurses.

A collection of notes and references pertaining to in-tensive care nursing can be found at www.prescottfamily.net/mytoolbox.htm. This site is another example of quality Webdesign by nurses. It includes resources for airway manage-ment, hemodynamic monitoring, cardiology, toxicology,critical pharmacology, and many other concepts useful tocritical care nurses.

This is just a sampling of what can be found on the In-ternet for anyone interested in the care of the critically ill orinjured patient. So find a comfortable chair, grab somesnacks, and spend an evening cruising through the Internet.You will be surprised at what you can find. And don’t for-get, if you get “lost,” just keep clicking on the “back” but-ton to find your way home.

Section Editor’s note: After reading about these Web sites, I went to them myself and was so impressed with the qual-ity of the heart and breath sounds on some of the sites thatI gave the addresses to all my paramedic students. In thecourse of educating paramedics for many years, I havefound that it is very difficult for them to appreciate breathand heart sounds from an audiotape, because they do nothave access to as many patients and listening opportunitiesto reinforce the sounds they have learned. I believe that thesounds on these sites are far superior to those on tapes.Some of the paramedics commented that they enjoyedmatching wits with the computer. I suspect the materialwill be even more valuable to nurses in light of their scopeof practice.—Faye Everson, RN

Submissions to this column are welcomed and encouraged. Contri-butions may be sent to one of the following:

Faye Everson, RN67 Ebenezar Lane, Brewster, MA 02631

508 862-5969 • E-mail: Faeverson@aol.com

Jeanne Ulmer, RN, BSN81 Welton Dr, Plymouth, MA 02360

508 830-2441