Pediatric ICU

Posted by Amanda at Saturday, September 10, 2011

I am now halfway through my pediatric ICU rotation and I have seen so much and learned a lot. My day starts at 7 am. I am usually at the hospital and I look up my patients and make sure everything is good. Rounds begin at 8 am. I go on rounds with my preceptor Elizabeth Beckman, an attending, 3-4 residents, 2 medical students, 2 fellows, and a nurse practitioner. Sometimes a respiratory therapist or dietitian comes also. So as you can imagine there are a lot of us. We do not enter the patients rooms. So we all stand out in the hallway outside and someone will present on the patient. After rounds, I work-up my patients, I check to make sure all the doses are correct because in pediatrics, all the medications are dosed by weight. I look at the indications and make sure they are being used correctly. I then discuss the patients with my preceptor and bring up any changes that need to be made. Afterwards, my preceptor will usually have a topic discussion with me, where she will provide a topic that comes up often in a critical care setting. Some days I attend meetings with the PICU attendings and fellows.

Since I have been in the unit for two weeks, I can appreciate the use of technology. I have seen the use of ventilators which help patients breath. I have also seen the use of a continuous renal replacement therapy machine which works in the place of your kidneys. I have seen the use of an ECMO machine which is used to help blood exchange oxygen.

So I have been in the PICU for two weeks now and I am really starting to develop an interest for it.