ICU

Enough with the acronyms in Medicine already! ICU stands for Intensive Care Unit, where I am currently working, and most definitely love. It's been a while since the last post, but that's me - sporadic at best!

The excitement, the drama, ICU has it all. I've been putting in Central lines, which are basically big long IV's (intravenous lines...ones that go inside veins) in the subclavian (under your clavicle) vein that travel to your superior vena cava, the big vessel that drains blood from the top part of your body into the heart. AWESOME. And since we only see the sickest of the sick, everyone is on all the big medications you don't normally use on the floor, and everyone is relatively unstable, so there's always the tension in the air - what's going to happen next.

Having said all this, there's still the humanity side to everything. Sitting down with families to explain what's going on, discussing issues surrounding end of life and withdrawal of care, and working with the amazingly knowledgeable nurses, dietitions, physiotherapists, and respiratory therapists who are all teaching me sooo much.

What to do in the future - who knows. But ICU, and anesthesia, are looking much, much better.

Hope all your lives are proving just as exciting!

Nicholas