Lower extremity injury: complex problems, complex answers.

Patients with traumatic injury to the lower extremities are admitted to the hospital with multiple interrelated problems requiring an interdisciplinary team approach to meet their needs. This article will explore the assessment and formulation of nursing diagnoses, implementation of care, and patient outcomes achieved. It will describe the nurse's role as the link between the patient and the physician and other members of the health care team. The cooperative actions of the different health care teams that work to achieve the desired outcomes are explained. A case study will be presented to illustrate these points.