What is the difference between PICU and NICU?

One of the biggest distinctions between a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is that a PICU cares for infants and children up to age 17 (pediatric = children). A NICU (neonatal = newborn infants) specializes solely in the treatment of newborns who need a little more TLC.

What kind of patients are in PICU?

The PICU clinicians and other health care professionals at Brenner are experts in the treatment of very sick and injured infants and children with a wide range of health problems, including congenital heart defects, trauma, childhood cancer, severe infections such as sepsis, and other medical emergencies.

What is a Level 1 PICU?

The level I PICU must provide multidisciplinary definitive care for a wide range of complex, progressive, and rapidly changing medical, surgical, and traumatic disorders occurring in pediatric patients of all ages, excluding premature newborns.

What does a pediatric intensive care nurse do?

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Nurses provide care for children and adolescents with a wide-range of ailments, from common childhood diseases to life-threatening illnesses.

Where does patient go after ICU?

After the ICU, patients usually will stay at least a few more days in the hospital before they can be discharged. Most patients are transferred to what is called a step-down unit, where they are still very closely monitored before being transferred to a regular hospital floor and then hopefully home.

How long can a patient stay in ICU?

Measurements and Main Results. Among 34,696 patients who survived to hospital discharge, the mean ICU length of stay was 3.4 (±4.5) days. 88.9% of patients were in the ICU for 1–6 days, representing 58.6% of ICU bed-days. 1.3% of patients were in the ICU for 21+ days, but these patients used 11.6% of bed-days.

What is the PICU in the hospital?

The PICU is the section of the hospital that provides sick children with the highest level of medical care. It differs from other parts of the hospital, like the general medical floors, in that the PICU allows intensive nursing care and continuous monitoring of things like heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure.

What goes on in a NICU?

A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a hospital intensive care unit that specialises in looking after premature and sick newborn babies. NICUs have specialist doctors, nurses, other professionals and equipment to care for sick and premature babies.

What happens in a psychiatric intensive care unit?

A psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a hospital ward dedicated to the short-term management of people in an acutely disturbed phase of a serious mental disorder who cannot be safely managed in a general psychiatric ward. Core features include a high staff to patient ratio and a secure physical environment.

What can I expect from a pediatric ICU?

Kids in the PICU are attached to monitors. The monitors are secured to the body with chest leads, which are small painless stickers connected to wires. These leads can count a child’s heart rate and breathing rate. Many kids are also connected to a pulse oximetry (pulse-ox) machine to check blood oxygen levels.

What to expect in the intensive care unit?

Intensive care units cater to patients with severe or life-threatening illnesses and injuries, which require constant care, close supervision from life support equipment and medication in order to ensure normal bodily functions.

What is a PICU nurse?

Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses are registered nurses (RNs) who observe and care for children of all ages in hospital intensive care units.

What to expect when your loved one is in the ICU?

It is important to know that your loved one may look and act very differently in the ICU. Swelling and bruises are common with traumatic injuries. Pain medication, head injuries, infection, and lack of sleep may make patients appear sleepy, restless or confused.

What is the ICU and CCU?

An ICU is an Intensive Care Unit, and CCU usually stands for Cardiac Care Unit. An intensive care unit is a critical care unit that admits medical and surgical patients who are critically ill or injured, whereas a Cardiac Care Unit admits patients with cardiac problems, usually medical cardiac problems.