Intensive care
What is intensive care
Intensive care units (ICUs) are separate hospital wards where we care for people who are very ill.
ICUs have:
- staff with special training
- more staff per patient
- special equipment to help us monitor and care for patients.
When people need intensive care
People may need intensive care if they have a severe illness, injury or after an operation.
Someone you know might go into the ICU if they’ve had:
- a heart attack or stroke
- a serious infection, like sepsis or pneumonia (fluid in the lungs)
- head and organ injuries
- severe burns
- planned or emergency surgery.
What it involves
We often use medicine to put ICU patients in a temporary coma. This can help their body heal. They won’t feel any pain while they’re unconscious.
Patients who are awake may also be drowsy from having pain relief or medicine (sedatives).
We use special equipment and machines to:
- give them fluids, food and medicine
- check their heart rhythm, blood pressure and oxygen and carbon dioxide levels
- help them breathe and clear mucus from their lungs
- drain excess fluid from their body, including urine.
We monitor patients 24 hours a day in ICU.
Decisions about care
Patients who are awake and can talk to us can make decisions about their care.
If a patient is unconscious, drowsy or can’t give informed consent we’ll talk to:
- someone they’ve chosen to make decisions for them
- a family member or carer
- someone close to them.
In an emergency, there may not be enough time to ask people to make decisions. If this happens, ICU staff will decide what the best treatment is for a patient.
Support for family and carers
It can be distressing when someone you know needs intensive care. Most of our hospitals have social workers and chaplains you can talk to.
If you’re a family member or carer, we’ll explain their treatment, and tell you if they’re improving and what to expect. We’ll also let you know if treatment isn’t working.
You can talk to an intensive care nurse or doctor about a patient’s condition.
Raise concerns about a patient's health (Ryan's Rule)
Ryan's Rule is a 3-step process to support patients of any age, their families and carers. It's used to raise concerns if a patient’s condition is getting worse or not improving as well as expected.
Read more about Ryan’s Rule.
Visiting a patient
You can usually visit patients in the ICU. Ask a nurse or the hospital who can visit and when.
Most patients are attached to tubes, wires or equipment. We use these to give medicine and monitor their condition. Please ask us to explain what these are if you’re not sure.
The person you’re seeing may seem swollen, drowsy or confused, or have bruises or wounds from their health treatment. This can be upsetting, but we try to make sure they’re comfortable.
You're usually able to touch, comfort and talk to the person. They may not respond, but it may help them to hear and recognise familiar voices.
Please clean your hands when you visit the ICU and don't visit if you’re ill.
Leaving the ICU
Most patients can go home when their condition improves.
If they still need basic care, we’ll move them to a normal hospital ward. Nurses and doctors from the ICU will keep checking on them. They’ll let them know when they can go home.
It’s normal for patients to feel tired and weak after being in ICU. They may also be forgetful or confused from having medicines, and have:
- trouble eating or drinking
- diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and stomach pain
- depression, anxiety or trouble sleeping
- memory loss or false memories (delusions).
See your GP if these problems last longer than a few months. Some patients need special support (rehabilitation) to help them recover.