Critical care medicine specializes in caring for the most seriously ill patients. These patients are best treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) staffed by experienced health care professionals. Some hospitals maintain separate critical care units for special populations (eg, cardiac, transplant, trauma, burns, surgical, neurologic, pediatric, or neonatal patients).
Care of the ICU patient includes:
Intensive monitoring of physiologic parameters
Support of respiratory and cardiac function
Management of pain
Prevention and treatment of infection, thromboembolism, stress ulcers and gastritis, and pressure sores
Patients admitted to ICUs are severely ill, and clinicians should be trained in minimizing suffering, helping dying patients maintain dignity, and communicating with family members.
