Acute and critical care nurses are at the bedside 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide care that cannot be delivered in any other setting. They provide the first line of surveillance and vigilance to detect subtle changes in a patient’s condition. For example, calling a rapid response team for a 39-year-old with evolving sepsis before the cardiac monitor has even started to alarm. Facilitating a conversation with the family of a 96-year-old with a broken hip and pneumonia to determine the extent of care that would align with the patient’s advance care directive. Supporting the resilience of a new mother and family with the birth of a baby with a genetic anomaly. Providing education to a 56-year-old man with a left ventricular assist device and his spouse who are expected to manage this new, complex, life-sustaining device and medications, potentially for months or years, as he...

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