What Is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)? (2024)

Some people have heard of the ICU but don’t fully understand what goes on in an intensive care unit. Read on to learn more about these specialty hospital wards that help treat severe cases and provide, as the name suggests, intensive care.

What Is an Intensive Care Unit?

ICUs are hospital wards with specialized staff, equipment, and standards. An ICU may also be called a critical care unit (CCU) or intensive therapy unit (ITU).

Intensive care unit purpose. An ICU handles severe, potentially life-threatening cases. People who are in a serious accident, undergo major surgery, or have a sudden decline in health may get treatment from an ICU.

Who Gets Care in an ICU?

Requirements for admission into an ICU. Patients with potential or current organ failure are prime candidates for ICU care. Other factors that will determine who is or is not admitted to the ICU include:

  • Diagnosis
  • Illness severity
  • Prognosis and anticipated quality of life
  • Treatment availability
  • Response to treatment so far

An ICU doctor will also consider the patient’s age, coexisting conditions, physiological reserve, and personal wishes.

When is intensive care needed? ICU staff are called when a patient’s condition meets certain criteria. These criteria include:

  • An obstructed or threatened airway
  • Respiratory arrest
  • A respiratory rate between 8 and 40 breaths per minute
  • Cardiac arrest
  • A pulse that’s less than 40 or greater than 140 beats per minute
  • Repeated or extended seizures

If the patient gives these or another cause for concern, they may receive intensive care.

What Does ICU Care Involve?

The basics of IC care include thoroughly monitoring the patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels, urinary output, and temperature.

Typical equipment in an ICU. Along with the equipment needed to monitor the factors listed above, other equipment in the ICU can include:

  • Ventilators to help patients breathe
  • Intravenous (IV) tubes to provide fluid, nutrition, and medication
  • Feeding tubes
  • Drain tubes to remove blood or fluid buildup
  • Catheters to drain urine

Common drugs in an ICU. Many patients in an ICU receive pain-relieving medications or sedatives. These may relieve symptoms of their condition or discomfort caused by the equipment.

Close monitoring. There is typically one nurse for every one or two patients in the ICU. This lets the ICU staff closely monitor all patients closely.

What to Expect as a Patient

Your experience as a patient will vary depending on your reason for receiving intensive care. The ICU is a high-functioning operational environment in a sterile area with a lot of equipment. The sounds, smells, machines, and level of activity can be overwhelming for patients and visitors.

You’ll be constantly monitored digitally from devices and by the staff themselves. You’ll be well-acquainted with the nurses and doctors treating you. As long as you’re awake and communicative, you make decisions about your care.

If you’re unconscious, sedated, or unable to make a decision, your close family will make decisions on your behalf. Alternatively, the ICU staff may need to make a decision in your best interest in an emergency.

If you’re taking sedatives, painkillers, and other medications, you may feel drowsy, but the ICU staff will make sure you’re as comfortable as possible.

What to Expect as a Visitor

Visiting a loved one in the ICU can be overwhelming and heartbreaking, but there are some things you can do to prepare for a visit.

Understand the visiting restrictions. ICUs tend to have flexible visiting hours, but many have restrictions to avoid contagions. Check your ICU’s visiting hours to find out about their restrictions.

Some ICUs will limit the number of people who can visit, so coordinate your visits with your family and friends to avoid overwhelming your loved one or breaking the ICU’s guidelines.

Protect yourself and others. The ICU will ask you to wash or sanitize your hands to prevent potential infection. They’ll also restrict the items you can bring with you.

If you’re ill or sick, don’t visit the ICU. The patients are in a critical state, and you shouldn’t risk compromising their health.

Know what you may see. Your loved one will be connected to several devices via tubes and wires. They may seem drowsy or confused due to some medications, so visiting them can be emotional.

ICU Support Services

The ICU staff knows that this can be a challenging time for people, which is why some ICUs offer support services for patients and their families. Not all ICUs offer the same support services, though. Below, you will find just a few of the support services many major hospitals offer.

Counseling. Whether you’re a patient or a patient’s loved one, being admitted into an ICU can be scary. Your ICU may have counselors on staff to support patients and their families.

A major benefit of seeing a counselor through the ICU is their familiarity with what happens in an ICU. They can provide specific support based on what you or your family are going through.

Interpreting. If English isn’t your first language, ICU interpreters can help translate the medical language that the ICU uses. An interpreter’s service can be vital when specific ICU procedures need consent from the patient or their family.

Pastoral guidance. Most hospitals have a pastoral counseling service that provides spiritual guidance for those who need it. They also may have a non-denominational chapel you can visit to engage in some quiet reflection.

What Happens When You Leave an ICU?

The hospital will likely transfer you to another ward once you don’t need intensive care. This may take a few days to a few months, though, depending on your condition.

While many people recover from treatment in an ICU, they may experience side effects following their stay, including:

  • Weakness
  • Stiffness
  • Fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • Weight loss
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Trouble thinking or remembering

Cost of an ICU stay. It’s difficult to put a solid number on how much a stay in an ICU will be. In most cases, the cost is determined by the types of procedures done, the length of your stay, and any specialized care you need.

Putting the Intense in Intensive Care (Or Taking It Out)

An ICU may seem like a scary place, but the ICU’s staff can work wonders for you and your family. They’ll do everything they can to make sure everyone gets home safe.

What Is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)? (2024)

FAQs

What Is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)? ›

ICUs are hospital wards with specialized staff, equipment, and standards. An ICU may also be called a critical care unit (CCU) or intensive therapy unit (ITU). Intensive care unit purpose. An ICU handles severe, potentially life-threatening cases.

What is in an intensive care unit? ›

In ICU you will see many patients connected to a heart monitor, others will be supported with breathing assistance from artificial ventilators, be on dialysis machines and receiving a variety of intravenous infusions via tubes and drips. Be prepared to see lots of lines, tubes, wires and monitoring equipment.

How do you define ICU? ›

An ICU is an organized system for the provision of care to critically ill patients that provides intensive and specialized medical and nursing care, an enhanced capacity for monitoring, and multiple modalities of physiologic organ support to sustain life during a period of life-threatening organ system insufficiency.

What is the full meaning of ICU? ›

intensive care unit. noun. : a unit in a hospital providing intensive care for critically ill or injured patients that is staffed by specially trained medical personnel and has equipment that allows for continuous monitoring and life support. abbreviation ICU.

What is ICU versus intensive care? ›

Critical care also is called intensive care. Critical care treatment takes place in an intensive care unit (ICU) in a hospital. Patients may have a serious illness or injury. In the ICU, patients get round-the-clock care by a specially trained team.

What is the meaning of intensive in ICU? ›

An ICU may also be called a critical care unit (CCU) or intensive therapy unit (ITU). Intensive care unit purpose. An ICU handles severe, potentially life-threatening cases. People who are in a serious accident, undergo major surgery, or have a sudden decline in health may get treatment from an ICU.

What qualifies as ICU? ›

Making the decision to admit to intensive care

The initial criteria to be considered for admission are the need for an intervention that is not available elsewhere in the institution as well as clinical instability that places the patient at risk of dying or immediate deterioration.

What is ICU point of care? ›

Every second counts in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with changes in patient status potentially occurring quickly and with no prior warning. Around-the-clock blood testing capabilities are essential to effectively monitor these changes in patient status.

How do you explain ICU to a child? ›

The intensive care unit, or ICU, is a special place in the hospital where people can recover from very serious illnesses, accidents, or operations. In the ICU, a patient can get extra help from machines and extra attention from doctors, nurses, and other caring people.

What does ICU mean in nursing terms? ›

Intensive Care Units can be referred to by various names which mean the same thing, for example Critical Care Unit (CCU), Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU). The unit cares patients with acute illness or injury that require specialised procedures and treatments by specialised staff.

What is the full ICU? ›

The full form of ICU is the Intensive Care Unit. It is a special hospital division that offers patients suffering from a severe accident or disease with critical care medications and intensive care.

What is the purpose of the ICU? ›

Intensive care units (ICUs) are specialist hospital wards that provide treatment and monitoring for people who are very ill. They're staffed with specially trained healthcare professionals and contain sophisticated monitoring equipment.

What does ICU mean in a text? ›

text messaging I see you.

What is the hardest type of ICU? ›

CVICU nursing might be described as hard because it requires a very specialized knowledge set and demands a high level of critical thinking. Other critical care units also require these skills, but there is a stereotype that cardiothoracic critical care nurses are especially intense and passionate about their work.

What is the highest level of ICU? ›

A level 1 ICU can provide oxygen, more intensive nursing care than a ward, and non-invasive monitoring. A level 2 ICU offers basic life support for a short amount of time and invasive monitoring. A level 3 ICU is the highest level and offers a full spectrum of life support technologies and monitoring.

Is the ICU stressful? ›

Authors. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can be a highly stressful environment - not just for our patients and their relatives but also for us, the staff who care for them.

What type of patients are usually kept in the ICU? ›

Intensive care is needed if someone is seriously ill and requires intensive treatment and close monitoring, or if they're having surgery and intensive care can help them recover. Most people in an ICU have problems with 1 or more organs. For example, they may be unable to breathe on their own.

What medical equipment is in the intensive care unit? ›

The different types of medical equipments used in an ICU are- Monitor, ventilator, IV Catheter, Urine Catheter, Pleur-evac, Nasogastric tube (NG tube), ECG electrodes, Nasogastric suction, Pulse Oximeter, Crash Cart, Anesthesia Machine, EKG Machine, and more.

What services are offered in the intensive care unit? ›

Common equipment in an ICU includes mechanical ventilators to assist breathing through an endotracheal tube or a tracheostomy tube; cardiac monitors for monitoring Cardiac condition; equipment for the constant monitoring of bodily functions; a web of intravenous lines, feeding tubes, nasogastric tubes, suction pumps, ...

What is the 3 level of ICU? ›

Level 3—Intensive care. Patients requiring two or more organ support (or needing mechanical ventilation alone). Staffed with one nurse per patient and usually with a doctor present in the unit 24 hours per day.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Jerrold Considine

Last Updated:

Views: 6028

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (58 voted)

Reviews: 89% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jerrold Considine

Birthday: 1993-11-03

Address: Suite 447 3463 Marybelle Circles, New Marlin, AL 20765

Phone: +5816749283868

Job: Sales Executive

Hobby: Air sports, Sand art, Electronics, LARPing, Baseball, Book restoration, Puzzles

Introduction: My name is Jerrold Considine, I am a combative, cheerful, encouraging, happy, enthusiastic, funny, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.