What is critical care?

Critical Care Units (or intensive care units [ICU]) can be defined as “specialised sections of a hospital containing the equipment, medical and nursing staff and monitoring devices necessary to provide continuous and closely monitored health care to critically ill patients.” Such patients may be at high risk of acquiring a life-threatening condition or require a high level of nursing and medical care to maintain physiologic equilibrium. Critical care is a complex and diverse network that interacts with all areas of the hospital.

Level of care

Critical care areas have traditionally been divided into Intensive Therapy Units, where the highest level of care is given to the sickest patients, and high-dependency units or step-down units, where an intermediate level of care between the ICU and the ward is provided. Another classification divides patients according to the level of care required.

The nurse at the bedside is the primary critical care provider. The complexity of the care and monitoring of most critical care patients and the machinery required to treat them means that the majority require one nurse per patient, and this is the standard in level 3 care in some countries such as the United Kingdom. Patients who require less intensive monitoring and treatment may require less nursing time, and level 2 care may be provided by one nurse for two or more patients.