On February 4th and 5th I had an ICU rotation to 3 South at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital which is a surgical ICU unit. The unit I am usually on is 2900, which is a Cardiac ICU at the same Hospital. Both units being ICU, I wasn’t sure how much a difference there would be between the two. However, there was a big difference between the two ICUs. Of course some things were the same, such as the layout of the unit (the pods, computers, and medication rooms). Whereas there are some patients on the Surgical ICU who have heart problems, on the Cardiac ICU all the patients’ problems are cardiac centered. The Surgical ICU receives all patients in critical position post-surgery.
Similarly to 2900 each nurse, is assigned one-two, three patients at the …show more content…
Many procedures and nursing tasks require assistance. The nurses are always asking each other for help and providing help in return. In fact, when a nurse on the ICU is caught up in her own work, he/she will round the unit to see if other nurses need help. On other units I have been on, the nurses work more independently. They don’t ask for help as much, and they have a larger patient load so they are not available to help as much. Other units you have to get your work done more own your own, from what I have seen. The nurses on the ICU also seemed to be more personally close. They knew how each other was doing outside of work, and if anyone or their family was going through a hard time. Some even spent time together outside of work or kept up with each other in social formats. I saw minimal interaction between nurses and nurse techs in the ICU, but on other floors the techs and nurses communicate more to make sure that the tasks have been completed and to see if the nurses need more assistance throughout the shift. The nurses also had a strong relationship to their managers enough to where they felt comfortable asking clarifying questions or even respectfully questioning/disagreeing with the way something was being done. The managers were very supportive and would often circulate the unit to offer assistance when nurses needed an extra hand. They also asked the nurses opinions about staffing and safety. I really appreciated the …show more content…
This allows patients time to rest. They have resting no visitor times from 2:00-4:00 just for this purpose. They turn the lights down and the television off, and try to not disturb the patients during this time. On less critical units, there is not a rest period in the day and nurses come in and out for care throughout the day whenever it is time. The ICU can also be a more somber place at times because sometimes patients die or have permanent deficits. While this can happen on other units, it happens more frequently, suddenly, and more severely than other hospital settings in which I have been. In turn the nurses are better equipped to support the family. This is a huge task to be able to support the family emotionally and in other ways. This support aids in a respectful, peaceful death of their loved one and helps them to cope. The nurses are also adept at encouraging their patients that they can do more than they think they can which correlates to a faster recovery and better physical health. I have really enjoyed my ICU experiences. Something I like best about them, is that there is so much to learn. There is never a day when I wonder what I learned today; everyday I have a full list full of things. I also really like that you have less patients so you can take more time with each one. It feel more like nursing care, and less like checking the boxes. I wasn’t able to do everything a ICU nurse does as a student
Similarly to 2900 each nurse, is assigned one-two, three patients at the …show more content…
Many procedures and nursing tasks require assistance. The nurses are always asking each other for help and providing help in return. In fact, when a nurse on the ICU is caught up in her own work, he/she will round the unit to see if other nurses need help. On other units I have been on, the nurses work more independently. They don’t ask for help as much, and they have a larger patient load so they are not available to help as much. Other units you have to get your work done more own your own, from what I have seen. The nurses on the ICU also seemed to be more personally close. They knew how each other was doing outside of work, and if anyone or their family was going through a hard time. Some even spent time together outside of work or kept up with each other in social formats. I saw minimal interaction between nurses and nurse techs in the ICU, but on other floors the techs and nurses communicate more to make sure that the tasks have been completed and to see if the nurses need more assistance throughout the shift. The nurses also had a strong relationship to their managers enough to where they felt comfortable asking clarifying questions or even respectfully questioning/disagreeing with the way something was being done. The managers were very supportive and would often circulate the unit to offer assistance when nurses needed an extra hand. They also asked the nurses opinions about staffing and safety. I really appreciated the …show more content…
This allows patients time to rest. They have resting no visitor times from 2:00-4:00 just for this purpose. They turn the lights down and the television off, and try to not disturb the patients during this time. On less critical units, there is not a rest period in the day and nurses come in and out for care throughout the day whenever it is time. The ICU can also be a more somber place at times because sometimes patients die or have permanent deficits. While this can happen on other units, it happens more frequently, suddenly, and more severely than other hospital settings in which I have been. In turn the nurses are better equipped to support the family. This is a huge task to be able to support the family emotionally and in other ways. This support aids in a respectful, peaceful death of their loved one and helps them to cope. The nurses are also adept at encouraging their patients that they can do more than they think they can which correlates to a faster recovery and better physical health. I have really enjoyed my ICU experiences. Something I like best about them, is that there is so much to learn. There is never a day when I wonder what I learned today; everyday I have a full list full of things. I also really like that you have less patients so you can take more time with each one. It feel more like nursing care, and less like checking the boxes. I wasn’t able to do everything a ICU nurse does as a student