ICU Nursing Care

The intensive care unit isn't just about ventilators and pressors and invasive monitors. Some patients go to the ICU simply because they need the nursing care provided there. Our specially trained critical care nurses are the ICUs greatest asset. I rely on them a lot as they know their patients incredibly well, spending all their time with just one or two. They also develop sharp clinical acumen and great familiarity with the hospital system. I never discount the contribution of our nurses, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists, and pharmacists in the care of our critically ill patients.

Some patients, like those who get a carotid endarterectomy, go to the ICU simply for close nursing monitoring. These patients who have their carotid vessels cleaned out are at high risk for postsurgical strokes. Only our ICU nurses are able to do complete neurologic exams every hour. If the patients do well, they go home straight from the ICU. Other patients come because our nurses can give medications that are restricted elsewhere. I admitted a pre-eclamptic patient to the ICU after her delivery because she needed aggressive blood pressure control that could not be achieved on the regular postpartum floor. Other patients who have complex plastic surgeries may come to the unit for wound care and free flap checks.

Although I enjoy caring for these patients, they are in the ICU more for the nurses rather than the physicians. It is another reminder of the central importance of nurses to our health care systems.