Obesity-related risks and prevention strategies for critically ill adults.

In America today, more than one third of adults are obese. Increasingly, obese patients are admitted to critical care units. Critical care nurses must have additional knowledge and skills to identify health risks to obese patients and implement interventions to prevent untoward problems. Critical care nurses are also at risk when taking care of obese patients. The purpose of this article is to identify risks to both patients and nurses and to provide recommendations to address those risks.