| How do you know what you can do in the ICU? Many feel
limited. The ICU is considered a place for the sickest and the most severely
injured--those who could die at any moment. Proactive rehabilitation
in such an environment may seem out of place.
While it's true that some ICU patients will never leave the ICU and
will expire in the unit, most (97%) will become stable and leave for
an acute care floor within three weeks. Depending on the facility, the
majority of rehab services are ordered by physicians when the patient
is stable or improving or when the physician is hoping to get the patient
to the acute floor in the near future. Understanding some of the issues
that go into a physician's decision to admit or discharge a patient
from the ICU can make a significant difference in the comfort level
of a therapist. Rehab professionals who fully understand how to monitor
a patient's status (including vitals/telemetry, signs, and symptoms)
fare much better in the ICU.
If you understand the following five important ICU 'criticals', you
can treat almost all patients in the ICU safely:
- The term 'stable' and how it is determined via vitals/telemetry.
- Whether a patient is improving, decompensating, or the same.
- Precautions/contraindications for a particular disease process,
injury, or surgery and for the equipment with which you will work.
- How each rehab activity affects a patient's vitals/outcome.
- That a person must be able to ask someone a question if they don't
know something.
If you don't know and fully understand this important information
and how to apply it in the ICU, Bells
& Whistles is for you.
For
detailed class information please see our course and details location
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