Neuro ICU Expansion Helps Hospital Treat More Patients
Monday October 19, 2009
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A new 16-bed neuro intensive care unit, located on the eighth floor, opened Aug. 6 and will offer more patients access to the latest quality care, such as minimally invasive aneurysm treatment.
“Nobody can do the volume [of patients] that we do or has the expertise that we have,” says Dennis Caliguri, RN, MSN, CNRN, vice president of neuroscience nursing at JHN. “We’re in a situation where most of our beds are full. Most of our patients come from other hospitals, and we’ll be able to take them right away.”
The hospital’s former neuro ICU, located on the sixth floor, is being renovated to function as part of the new unit, which will expand JHN’s neuro ICU to 26 beds. Improvements in the new NICU include upgraded bedside monitoring and light hydraulic lifts to help nurses move and transport patients more safely.
“One of the biggest challenges for neuroscience patients is they’re pretty immobile,” Caliguri says. “So when a nurse is providing care, they have to do everything for the patient. Oftentimes it takes two or more nurses to turn a patient. They’ll use this system to move the patients around the bed or get them out of bed or onto a stretcher much easier.”
Other features in the new neuro ICU include natural light in every room, flat-screen TVs, and space for visitors and private consultations with physicians. The natural light is particularly important, Caliguri says, because neuroscience patients sometimes can lose track of the time of day during recovery. The new rooms also are larger, with monitoring equipment mounted on booms, providing nurses better mobility at the bedside.
To cover the expansion, slated for completion this month, JHN is recruiting 25 more RNs, says Caliguri, who himself was recruited from the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati. .
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