Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

What is the ICU in a hospital?

An intensive care unit (ICU) is a special area in a hospital or healthcare facility for people who have a life-threatening illness or injury. Being in the ICU is serious. People in an ICU require specialized healthcare providers to constantly monitor their health and provide treatment.

Other names for an ICU include:

• Critical care unit
• Intensive therapy unit
• Intensive treatment unit

How do I know if I need ICU care?

Healthcare providers consider many factors to determine if you need ICU care. These include:

• Diagnosis
• How you’re responding to treatment so far
• Other medical conditions that you have (comorbidities)
• Severity of your illness or injury

Providers will also consider your personal healthcare wishes. Some people may not want ICU care if the treatments affect their quality of life or if there’s a low chance that they recover.

Reasons for ICU admission

There are many conditions that may require treatment in an ICU. Some common conditions include:

• Post-surgery care
• Ruptured brain aneurysm
• Sepsis
• Severe bacterial or viral infection
• Stroke
• Sudden (acute) organ failure, like your heart, kidneys, liver or lungs (respiratory failure)
• Surgery recovery
• Traumatic injury, such as a gunshot wound or injuries from an automobile accident
• Traumatic brain injury
• Your body doesn’t get enough blood flow (shock)
• Cancer-related care

What type of care is provided in the ICU?

Intensive care units provide round-the-clock monitoring and treatment. They often use equipment to help monitor your health.

ICUs provide multidisciplinary care. Multidisciplinary care is when you have a group of healthcare providers who specialize in conditions that affect different parts of your body. These may include:

• Critical care physicians (intensivists)
• Trauma surgeons
• Nurse practitioners and physician assistants (advanced practice providers or APPs)
• Nurses
• Respiratory therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Residents (physicians who have finished medical school and are receiving additional training)
• Fellows (physicians who have finished their residency and are receiving more specialized training)
• Clinical pharmacists
• Physical therapists
• Nutritional specialists
• Social workers
• Case managers

What type of equipment is in an ICU?

Common types of equipment that providers use to treat and monitor people in the ICU include:

• Anesthesia machines. These machines deliver medications that prevent you from feeling pain during medical procedures.
• Central and peripheral IVs. These deliver medications that help prevent pain and anxiety.
• Defibrillators. Providers use defibrillators to treat cardiac arrest.
• Imaging equipment. Providers may need to use X-rays, ultrasounds and other types of imaging equipment to look inside your body.
• Life support machines. These support or replace organs that aren’t working as they should. They include mechanical ventilation for when you can’t breathe on your own, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to help your heart and lungs, and continuous renal replacement therapy, which is a type of dialysis that does the work of your kidneys.
• Peripheral IVs. Peripheral IVs are thin plastic tubes that providers use to give IV fluids, provide liquid nutrition (enteral nutrition), deliver medications and conduct blood transfusions.
• Urinary catheters. Catheters drain urine (pee) from your urinary bladder.
• Vital signs monitors. These measure your body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate (pulse) and breathing rate (respiratory rate).

What types of medications are in an ICU?

Common types of medications that healthcare providers use in an ICU include:

• Antiarrhythmics to treat an abnormal heart rhythm
• Antibiotics to treat infections
• Antipsychotic medications to treat psychosis and psychosis-related conditions
• Antiseizure medications to treat seizures
• Beta-blockers to treat conditions that affect your circulatory system
• Blood pressure medications (antihypertensives) to treat high blood pressure (hypertension)
• Calcium channel blockers to treat an abnormal heart rhythm, high blood pressure and an accelerated heartbeat (tachycardia)
• Diuretics to treat heart failure and swelling (edema)
• Pain relievers to treat moderate to severe pain
• Neurostimulants to help treat traumatic brain injuries and stroke
• Sedatives to treat pain or discomfort
• Vasopressors to treat low blood pressure (hypotension)

What should I expect if I am admitted to the ICU?

The intensive care unit is busy. All people who need care in the ICU require close monitoring at all times. Healthcare providers will try to make you as comfortable as possible. But many people find the activity, sounds and smells overwhelming.

Unlike other hospital units, the ICU has fewer beds. Each ICU nurse cares for only one to two people at a time. There are stricter restrictions on visitors, too — fewer people can visit, and they may need to turn off their cell phones, avoid bringing food or flowers, and stay home if they’re not feeling well.

If you have a contagious disease, you may need to stay in an isolated part of the ICU to prevent the disease from spreading. Providers may need to wear additional personal protective equipment (PPE) while they care for you. This may include:

• Eye protection, such as safety glasses or goggles
• Face shields
• Gloves
• Gowns
• Head coverings
• Masks
• Respirators
• Shoe covers

If you’re unconscious (unable to wake up), sedated or otherwise unable to communicate your wishes, family members may need to make decisions about your care for you. In an emergency, providers may need to make decisions for you.

When can I leave the ICU?

It depends on the severity of your condition. Many people in the ICU recover and can leave the hospital. But conditions that require ICU care can be complicated and unpredictable. You may only need to spend a few hours in the ICU, or you may stay there for weeks or even months. Healthcare providers will give you a better idea of what to expect.

Are there different types of ICUs?

Some hospitals may have specialized ICUs that help specific people or conditions. These may include:

• Cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) to treat people who have heart conditions
• Cardiothoracic intensive care unit (CTICU) to treat people who have heart and lung conditions
• Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to treat newborn babies
• Medical intensive care unit (MICU) to treat complex medical problems, severe infections and respiratory failure
• Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) to treat children
• Surgical trauma intensive care unit (STICU) to treat people after planned or emergency surgery

Does ICU mean life support?

Not always, but many people who spend time in the ICU need medical procedures that help keep their organs working for them. These procedures may include mechanical ventilation, dialysis, a defibrillator and more.

Is ICU end-of-life care?

Sometimes. An ICU provides specialized medical care to people who are seriously ill or injured. But sometimes, people won’t recover from a condition, even with ICU treatments. If you, your care team and/or your loved ones decide you no longer need ICU treatment, you may move to a general ward in the hospital or, if possible, you may go home or to a hospice facility.