Let's talk about Neuro ICU. ICU =Intensive Care Unit. In the Tulane Medical Center, patients coming from spine or brain surgeries get a get bed in the Neuro ICU. Patients just coming in gets evaluated for brain functions, reflexes, temperature, bed sores, etc. They get hooked up to machines that read heart rate, breathing rate, temperature, blood pressure, oxygen in the blood, sometimes pressure in the skull; and machines that infuse drug into the patients in a controlled fashion.
An unconscious patient that may start seizing gets hooked up to an EEG (electroencephalogram), which records brain activity in real time, and also a camera that records the patients movement. All of these data will help doctors evaluate the brain and seizure severity.
The nurses handle patient's basic needs, such as food, water, excrement, urine, etc. The nurses may clean the patient, and follow a doctor's instructions for treatment displayed in the hospital computer system. Any nurse would be responsible for 2 or 3 patients usually for a 12 hour shift.
My part in this only extends to chatting with the patients, making sure they have the refreshments they want, and helping with general things nurses need like answering the phone and opening the door for visitors. I do it for 4 hours, once a week. Volunteering for the nurses station let me perceive the bed-side care givers, the ones in contact with the patients most. But more on that next time...
