Critical Care
By Barb Wang RN
I recently floated off my unit to help staff another unit. Midway through the shift, the charge nurse approached me to take a transfer patient from Peds ICU. As she detailed the patient’s condition, I felt hesitant to accept the assignment. On further investigation we determined that this young patient was not an appropriate transfer to this floor. I was relieved…and the patient stayed in a safe environment for the severity of his condition.
This event led to a discussion about the meaning of “critical care.” Critical is defined as: indispensable or essential; being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; fraught with danger or risk. Recent Children’s publications reveal that 46% of our beds and 56% of our nursing staff are in critical care areas. Critical care also frequently supports non-critical areas, such as when intensivists are called for a consult, or when a Rapid Response Team is mobilized to assess a child’s condition. Nurses are continually making observations critical to the recovery of their patients. The charge nurse commented, “Isn’t everything we do really critical care?” It made me stop and think…
Remember the last time you searched for a pillow so a tired mother could take a nap? That’s critical care. How about when you notified housekeeping that a child’s blanket went down the laundry chute with his bed linens? It’s critical to that child! Your assessment that the pain team should be notified to see a post-op teenager? Critical! Taking time at the very end of the shift to notify the primary MD of the positive culture that lab just called to you? Essential! Passing on complete information to the oncoming nurse? Indispensable! Being a mentor to the new graduates on your staff? Vital! Helping ensure that your co-worker takes time for a supper break? Could be risky not to do so!
When I started my career at Children’s twenty years ago, the nurse recruiter strongly recommended that I consider critical care training. Children’s provides such an excellent opportunity for those experiences. At times I feel guilty that I have never tried working in one of our ICUs (and I am too old to do so now!). But I think that what the charge nurse said is true. Though my patients may not be on vents or dopamine drips, they demand 100% of my attention while I am on duty. The children and families in our hospital deserve no less than everything we have to give at all times and on all units. It is critical to the mission of our organization and to the commitment that we have to provide the safest care and the best experience for each family that enters through our doors. Accepting the challenge to strive to be experts in the art of nursing, we recognize that nothing we do is anything less than critical care.
Barb Wang, RN, is a staff nurse on 6th Floor.
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