Critical Care (ICU & NICU)

Overview

Critical care is medical attention for patients with illnesses and injuries that pose a life-threatening threat. Usually, an intensive care unit hosts it (ICU). You receive 24-hour care from a group of specially trained healthcare professionals. Using equipment to continuously check your vital signs is part of this. Additionally, you will typically receive specialist remedies.

ICU

For severely sick patients with possibly treatable life-threatening diseases, intensive care is the highest level of patient care and therapy. A critical illness or injury is one that “acutely impairs one or more vital organ systems to the extent that there is a high possibility of imminent or life-threatening deterioration in the patient’s state,” according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Critical care, often known as intensive care, is a multidisciplinary and inter professional specialty created especially for the management of patients who already have or are at imminent risk of organ failure. Intensive care medicine is defined by its ability to temporarily support and, if necessary, replace the function of numerous failing organ systems, including the kidneys, cardiovascular system, and lungs.

NICU

The hospital’s NICU is where infants are sent when they are born prematurely, have health issues, or experience a rough delivery. Neonatal intensive care unit is what the acronym NICU means. There, a group of specialists provide 24-hour care for infants.
Within 24 hours of birth, the majority of these infants are admitted to the NICU. Their health status will determine how long they stay. Babies can stay for a few hours or days, a week, or even a few months.