Infections in the acute care setting today are becoming more complicated to recognize, diagnose and treat. Bacterial, viral and fungal infections have become challenging to treat due to increasing resistance to standard treatment. Understand the categories of infections that have distinguishing features, which can help in developing a diagnosis. A synthesis of information needed to recognize and differentiate between the various types of infections in the immunocompromised patient will be presented.

Nancy Munro, RN, MN, CCRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP; Senior Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Critical Care Medicine Department and Pulmonary Consult Service, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda MD and Faculty Associate, Graduate School of Nursing, Georgetown University; Washington DC