Intensive Care Unit: Reasons, Skills, Roles, Nutrition, and Safety

Running head: INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 1
Intensive Care Unit
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INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Reasons why a person requires care in the intensive care unit........................................................4
Skills nurses require to work in the Intensive Care Unit.................................................................6
Role of nurses in the Intensive Care Unit........................................................................................8
Nutritional requirements in the ICU................................................................................................9
Patient Safety in the Intensive Care Unit.......................................................................................10
Stressors in the Intensive Care Unit...............................................................................................11
Factors influencing physical function after a discharge from an ICU...........................................12
Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 3
Abstract
An intensive care unit (ICU) is an essential unit in hospital settings since it provides
special treatment to patients who are in critical conditions. This report aims to explore the
number of reasons why a person may require care in an Intensive Care Unit like traumatic brain
injury, sepsis, and severe sepsis, shock, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Nurses require
skills for them to ensure that they provide competently and quality care to their patients. Some of
the skills that are necessary to a nurse who works in an Intensive Care Unit include; teamwork
skills, capacity to apply critical thinking, ability to maintain open communication, content skills,
and observational skills. These skills are significant since they assist the nurses in carrying out
their roles, help them in minimising medical errors and to enable them to cope with the ICU
environment.
Additionally, it will explore some of the roles that nurses play in ICU that includes;
supporting family members, enhancing coordination during the provision of care, monitoring the
patient progress and managing factors that may cause stress to both the patient and the family
members. It also focuses on the role of health care settings to ensure that they provide adequate
patient safety. They can provide patient safety by mostly training health care providers on how to
enhance patient safety by helping them to be emotionally stable and providing adequate drugs to
the patients. Provision of necessary nutritional requirements is another factor that the report aims
at exploring, all healthcare settings should implement proper nutrition requirements in order to
ensure proper recovery of patients.

INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 4
Introduction
An intensive care unit (ICU) also known as Accident and Emergency and Care Unit is a
distinct department of a health care facility or hospital that involves the provision of intensive
treatment medicine to a patient. It primarily caters for the patients with life-threatening and
severe injuries and illnesses which requires constant support and close monitoring from a
specialist for ensuring recovery of the body to normal functioning. Problems that are mainly
addressed in the ICU include; severe breathing difficulties and complications from infections,
accidents, and surgery. In the ICU there is some highly trained nurses, dieticians,
physiotherapists and doctors each with specialist’s knowledge and skills. Nurses in the ICU have
been trained in the monitoring of patients, provision of necessary nutrition and provision of
round the clock care. The recommended patient to nurse ratio is 1:1 but in many hospitals in
Australia the patient to nurse ratio is 2:1 which imposes a danger in the quality of care provided.
A nurse who works in an ICU ought to be emotionally stable in order to be able to deal with the
emotional toll present in the ICU.
Reasons why a person requires care in the intensive care unit
A person may require care in the intensive care unit because of the following reasons;
Traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury occurs after damage to the brain as a result of an injury. An injury
to the brain may cause dysfunction of the brain cells, physical damage, bleeding or bruising these
conditions can lead to death or long-term complications. An ICU is essential to a person with