I'm a staff nurse in an intensive care unit - ask me anything!

[Nurse15]

Let the questions commence (though I'm not sure if anyone will be interested!!)

tara it really depends on the patient's condition and sedation given, however if patients hear it at the time they rarely remember anything after it so they may offer some comfort

crunchy mum officially we have 8 beds - we often spill over into theatres and recovery when we need extra capacity and so we are nearly always running above capacity unfortunately. We work 13 hour long days and 12 hour night duties - 4 weeks of days and 2 weeks of nights on rotation. The deaths I'm not sure of our exact figure but the last time I looked at the UK standard I think around 25% of patients passed away. I'm not sure how long ago that number was calculated though.

tits we always have doctor's within a 2 minute call away in theory - however if they where with multiple critical patients in resuscitation or maternity we would have to call for someone from outside. This has never happened to my knowledge and so I don't panic. I'm a pretty chilled person!! Most of the nurses are very laid back.

Thank you a million times for what you do 🙏 My son is a frequent flyer in PICU, unfortunately (ex Prem). What I'd like to ask is what is the best/ most impactful way to say thank you? We always send cards with photos of our son when recovered, and after the last admission I sent a long thank you email to PALS asking for it to be sent to PICU and also to the chief exec of the hospital. I sometimes want to send thank you cards to individual nurses and doctors, but then I feel bad in case I forget someone! My son was in over last Christmas and also for his birthday and we were so touched that he was given all sorts of presents, so I think this year I'll send some donations of toys and so on.
But any ideas you have or nice things you have experienced by way of a thank you, I'm all ears!!

wowzel I wish we had time to think about it!! No such luck - most days the ward is so busy we don't have time to do everything that needs done nevermind the stuff we'd like to do that isn't essential

crunchy mum lots and lots of inco pads and multiple rolls and repositions and sheet changes in a day - if the person is having type 7 stools where it's pure water then we can use a faecal management system - I'll let you all Google that or imagine the delights 😊

deux I'm not sure of the exact figures but somewhere around 25% of patients don't make it i think - lots of families pass through for different reasons, patients can be transferred within the hospital or to another hospital for a different treatment that hospital doesn't offer so not always a death. So lovely to hear your story!

What's the most people you've had die in a shift?

(I didn't work in ICU but all 6 patients in the ICU in the hospital I worked in died in one day once).

franksbobot ring before visit and ensure you will be allowed in - strict policy about visitors outside family etc. Nursing staff will only be able to tell next of kin any medical info so don't be offended if you won't get told anything! If friend is still sedated chat away anyway - your voice will be familiar and that is often welcome. I wouldn't bring anything other than some toiletries maybe. Keeps visits light as the patient will be tired and just chat normally for now. Good luck and let me know how you get on. Will be thinking about your friend.

eddie nurses rarely report anything to police. Paramedics usually involve police at scene and they are therefore aware of the patient and circumstances. Doctor's would then liase with police about patients condition etc but not the place of the nurse. Clinical governance department would often take over liasing when clinical team have done updating as it's way out of our remit. We are there for the patient not for the police.

esker we love our job and so pictures and cards are all we want! That totally makes our day. We love donations of nice teabags and coffee and of course cake. We will always take cake thank you for thinking of us, you must be so busy with your son!

dontdrink I think 3 - your day sounds bad!!

Thank you (and the lady at the freeman, she saved my mam), I think about her on and off, I doubt she even remembers. Her words, actions and presence are something that left an imprint that changed and shaped me. You do that, will do that to others.

Do you stay quite detached or do you ever get attached to some patients?

My dad was in ICU a couple of years ago, after a few days we were told his organs were failing and to probably expect a call during the night with bad news. The phone rang the next morning and my heart sank. Only to be told that dad was sitting out in a chair and communicating (completely confused though but that passed within a week or two). A couple of years on and he's still with us and doing great, but at that time mum and me were seriously thinking we were about to be planning a funeral.

I'll always remember the jolly ICU nurse. Amazing at her job, she kept me and my mum's spirits up as best she could but still was realistic. She was there for all our meetings with the consultant and always made sure we understood what he had said. But at the same time she joked with dad while he was in a coma, I'm sure he would have been chuckling if he could have heard her, and she kept our spirits up massively. I'll always remember her, there's a huge personal element to being an ICU nurse I think, on top of the important bit of such important nursing.

Thank you for doing an amazing job! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for an ICU. Do you get many patients who are aware? Just because when I was in ICU, after the initial part I wasn't sedated, I was groggy from the drugs, but pretty aware. Sometimes it felt like the nurses forgot I could hear with the things they'd say. Nothing nasty of course, I just got the feeling for the most part the patients are sedated? ICU have also very recently saved my Father so I am so appreciative of all you do!