Familiarize yourself with the acute care environment and confidently develop patient rehabilitation plans with this essential guide to physical therapy practice in a clinical setting. Acute Care Handbook for Physical Therapists, Third Edition helps you understand and interpret hospital protocol, medical terminology, and the medical-surgical aspects of acute care. Each chapter focuses on a body system and includes a review of basic structure and function, an overview of a medical-surgical workup, a review of pathophysiology, information on pharmacology, and guidelines for physical therapy intervention. This edition features a larger, slimmer design that highlights clinical tips, decision-making aids, and practice patterns throughout the text so that you can easily locate these tools and apply them to your practice. If you are unfamiliar with the complex acute care environment, this comprehensive resource is just what you need to become more comfortable and better able to manage the specific needs of your patients.

Intervention algorithms, tables, boxes, and clinical tips highlight key information about the acute care environment in a format that makes finding and digesting information easy.
The major body system chapters provide the evidence-based information you need to understand the complex issues of patients in the acute care environment so you can optimally manage the needs of your patients.
Current information on medications, laboratory tests, diagnostics, and intervention methods relevant to patients in the acute care environment illustrates how the acute care environment can impact these elements.
Clinical tips highlight key points and provide access to the tips and tricks accumulated over a career by an experienced clinician.
Language consistent with the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, 2nd Edition offers common linguistic ground through the use of Guide standards.
Lay-flat pages and uncluttered design make the book easier to use as a quick reference.



NEW! Restructured table of contents helps you quickly locate information.
NEW! Language from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) model adopted by the American Physical Therapy Association increases your familiarity with terminology.
NEW! New intervention algorithms along with existing algorithms break clinical decision-making into individual steps and sharpens your on-the-spot critical-thinking skills.
NEW! A quick-reference appendix covering abbreviations commonly found in the acute care environment supplies the translation tools you need, while flagging any abbreviations that may be harmful to the patient.