It was arguably one of my top three most chaotic and stressful shifts as a charge nurse in our PICU. Within the first two hours of the shift, a patient we thought to be relatively stable had completely decompensated and remained on the verge for hours of being put on ECMO, a heart-lung machine for … Continue reading The Cost and Reward of Saving a Life
ICU Nurse
Captain of the Ship: On Being PICU Charge Nurse in a Stormy Season
I sat at the helm in a swirl of chaos captain of the ship for the day coming dangerously close to bringing too much weight on board * lives on the verge of going under we were trying our best to bring them to shore to steadier ground to brighter days * and to keep … Continue reading Captain of the Ship: On Being PICU Charge Nurse in a Stormy Season
From a Fellow ICU Nurse: Honoring Alex Pretti
Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse, just like me. We ICU nurses look at life and all its darkest shadows with eyes wide open, and close up, bearing regular, intimate witness to the multitude of tragedies that befall people. We go to them, think about them, and we think about our lives and our role … Continue reading From a Fellow ICU Nurse: Honoring Alex Pretti
