We were a team. Always had been. Always would be. We defended each other, protected each other—from management, from nurse bullies, from the cruel ICU doctors who thought they ruled the world. Back in the day, we had our own kind of “therapy sess…
Category: Critical Care
Inside the calling of a pediatric intensivist: a life of sacrifice and purpose
It is more than our job,Our profession,Our specialty. It is our life,Our calling,Our vocation—A privilege. Taking care of the sickest of the sickest children,The most hurt,The most wounded,The most injured,The most vulnerable among us,The most precious…
When every second counts: the evolving challenges of pediatric transport
The most difficult transport I have ever encountered was during my pediatric critical care fellowship. I traveled to an outside hospital with a fully equipped pediatric critical care transport team, including a critical care nurse, respiratory therapis…
The power of names: Superstition in the neonatal intensive care unit
An excerpt from Yankee Doctor in the Bible Belt: A Memoir. We work in high-pressure environments, where Dr. Death is often lurking. We can be superstitious. We can protect ourselves with a sense of humor. We can use words as a smokescreen to protect ou…
Faster sepsis diagnosis in emergency departments [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We sit down with pulmonary and critical care physicians Tonya Jagneaux and Hollis O’Neal to explore the complex challenges emergency departments face when diagnosing…
How family presence in hospitals can be a lifeline for patients in crisis
During my time as a medical student shadowing in the intensive care unit, I met Ms. Stacey, hospitalized with a severe intestinal infection. As I entered her room, I saw her frail form lying amidst a web of tubes and monitors. Her prolonged hospital st…
From darkness to empathy: How one ICU patient transformed my perspective
My first ICU rotation of intern year was filled with great darkness. It was dark outside as I walked from my car into the hospital each morning before sunrise, and it was again dark when I walked to my car at the end of the day. Less than one hour into…
From darkness to empathy: How one ICU patient transformed my perspective
My first ICU rotation of intern year was filled with great darkness. It was dark outside as I walked from my car into the hospital each morning before sunrise, and it was again dark when I walked to my car at the end of the day. Less than one hour into…
The shocking fall of a respected ICU nurse
In the ICU, there was an experienced nurse. She was full of information and knew the policies and procedures inside and out. She was proficient in her role as an ICU nurse. But she was flawed. Something was wrong. Each day, she came to work wearing a g…
The dual demands of a PICU physician
A physician in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) requires vast medical knowledge along with emotional resilience. I always thought I had a strong sense of compassion for my patients and their families until I had my own baby 1.5 years ago. It co…
