eicu nurse

Yes I believe the e-icu is still effective in caring for the patient. We have gathered stats that have proven a decrease in the mortality and morbidity in the units we are ,monitoring and in fact the case mix has increased and the patients are now leaving the units sooner. We also have documentation revealing that our earlier identification of imminent changes in patients vitals or lab trends have decreased the amount and severity of secondary insults to ICU patients that affect long term outcome. We have also aided units in obtaining additional staff that they were previously unable to hire because of lack of documentation. Our intensivist is able to care for up to 100 patients at all times due to the system can yours do that at the bedside.

Yes the e-icu will be coming to STICU the computer system does allow for charting at the bedside on portable computers that are now being processed so that will be available for the bedside nurse and medical staff to use. the vital signs are continously fed into the ecare system and are always real time current and all vital signs are availble with merely change the scale.you are right when you say we are a safety catch for both the new nurse or the old tired frustrated nurse who is ready to sceam because of new nurses crazy residents no time to eat let alone go to the bathroom as far as reducing staffing the opposite is actually occuring in the units we are in because we can provide information that shows peak admission/procedure times,busiest days trendings that indicate a need for MORE staff. we will never be utilized to cut staff that has been approved by the CEO of the hospital system. as a charge nurse you could call eicu and inform them that you would like their help with a guiding or assisting a new/float nurse through a procedure or just keep an eye on a nurse you are worried about.

hi i currently work in a eicu where we have intensivist coverage 20hrs per day, they are not there from 7a11a when it is believe that attending MD,s are in the units.If the eicu has a ? about a drug they should resource the pts MAR or call the pts attending. we have had several times when so called stable observation patients with pulse ox problems have been found by the bedside ICU to actually be in distress requiring intubation and had pul embol, or the patient who's bp "isn't really that low" who when the nurse went to the bedside found the patient had pulled a cordis out and had lost 2 nits of blood in the bed I know how irritating those calls can get because I still work at the bedside @ least 1x a week but now also understand the reason for it..

I currently work in the eicu in Houston texas and it is great. we are very effective in adverting bad changes in patient status such as electively intubating a patient before they code while the attending physcian is enroute, replace labs without waking some crabby physician i the middle of the night,or have the right answers for a resident or nurse who is not sure of themselves:balloons: