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HWN Suggests

Life in the PICU

Six weeks ago, my family went on a much-needed, highly-anticipated vacation from the polar vortex of Boston to the sunny beaches of Florida. Turns out it was six weeks and a lifetime ago. It was the last time my husband and I slept under the same roof as our three kids; the last time, for that matter, my husband and I spent even five minutes in a room by ourselves; and the last time our 9-year-old daughter slept freely, unencumbered by tubes in her nose, IVs in her arms and the lifeline that now attaches her to a ventilator.

What happened should have been a non-event; our daughter caught a cold. But when you have an underlying mitochondrial disease such as our daughter’s, there’s…

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Featured

 Should Hospitals Be More Like Airplanes?

I wanted to see if medicine might learn from other professionals who need to perform their tasks in a swirling, often confusing, high-stakes environment. The aviation industry seemed like a natural place to look, so I spoke to Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the famed “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot.

 What Is a Typical Day Like in the PICU?

I'm a Physician Assistant in pediatric critical care and total science nerd that suffers from an unhealthy obsession with luxury travel. Life as a PA was created to give all those interested in healthcare a "behind the scenes" look at working in medicine and my 'Life as a PA'. Join me as I show you what it's like working in medicine and traveling the world!

Previously Featured

Decreasing Parental Stress in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

After examining the literature, I realized that many of the assumptions nurses make about the needs and stressors of parents are inaccurate. I thought that this gap could be addressed by an educational effort to ensure that nurses were aware of the research.

Gratitude in Our Brief Visit to the Pediatric ICU

A year has passed since that night which unraveled with searing speed. I’ve replayed the events many times and every time I cry. I remember all of it with clarity and I still marvel at the moments of gratitude that arose throughout the experience.

Guidelines and Levels of Care for Pediatric Intensive Care Units

Within these guidelines, the scope of pediatric critical care services is discussed, including organizational and administrative structure, hospital facilities and services, personnel, drugs and equipment, quality monitoring, and training and continuing education.

New to the PICU world...so many ?'s!!!

Great PICU nurses are born, as you say, and not made. We're part mother hen, part mother tiger... we protect our patients in whatever manner is needed at the time.

What is Pediatric Critical Care Medicine?

I practice a new medical specialty – pediatric critical care medicine – and I do my work in the pediatric intensive care unit, or PICU. We practitioners of this new specialty are called “pediatric intensivists.” Our specialty has been officially recognized by the American Board of Pediatrics for barely twenty years. It grew from hospitals’ desire to bring together in one place all critically ill and injured children, whether their particular problems involved their heads or their hearts, because all of these children and their families share many common needs.

When Your Child's in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

The medical team meets every day, usually in the morning, to discuss each patient's case in detail; these discussions are known as rounds. You may see a group of doctors, nurses, and others walking from patient to patient, planning the medical care for each patient. During rounds, you may be asked to stay in your child's room or instructed to not enter or exit the PICU. This is to protect the privacy of other patients.

Resources

Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society

In many pediatric centers, cardiovascular disease is the single largest category of patients in a critical care unit. Specialization of care for these patients requires personnel with skills and knowledge that are derived from many disciplines, not confined to critical care, cardiology, cardiac surgery or anesthesia. PCICS promotes excellence in pediatric cardiac critical care medicine.

World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care

Creating a global environment where all children have access to a high standard care.