Category: Critical Care

NICU tragedy: How new nurses’ nail choices led to a newborn’s heartbreaking fate

A small, cliquish bevy of nurses was working their way through orientation in the NICU straight out of nursing school. They were happy and thrilled to be accepted into this specialized nursing unit: the NICU. Practicing good hygiene, washing hands up t…

From devastation to inspiration: my journey through three cancers

A solid mass silently grew on my kidney. An unwelcome addition. Asymptomatic. Discovered haphazardly during a CT scan of my lungs … And it revealed itself. At first, I was devastated. Will cancer ever leave me alone? It has already visited me twi…

From 8-hour to 12-hour shifts: Exploring health care’s changing landscape [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Bruce L. Davidson, a pulmonary and critical care physician. We delve into the transformation of health care work conditions, from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts, and how this impacts …

Intensive caring in palliative care [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join guest Harvey Max Chochinov, a psychiatrist, as he delves into the profound concept of “intensive caring” in palliative care. Inspired by Dame Cicely Saunders’ powerfu…

Intensive caring: Reminding patients they matter

Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement and palliative care, famously said, “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life.” This quote has become the central philosophical tenet of …

Doctors’ emotional struggles in the medical field

Most humans, especially doctors, are completely disconnected from their bodies. This conditioning starts in childhood, escalates through teenage years, and peaks in residency where we are trained to completely detach from our body. Our emotions are hel…

Prayer in the COVID ICU [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! We sit down with Robert Raschke, a critical care physician and the author of One Hundred Prayers: God’s Answer to Prayer in a COVID ICU. We explore the power of prayer in the midst of…

Navigating grief: a doctor’s personal journey [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Humeira Badsha, a rheumatologist, as she shares her recent, unexpected journey through grief, offering profound insights into the emotional challenges faced by medical professionals. F…

Emergency care nightmare: the urgent need for experienced nurses

Imagine you are in a bad car accident. You are in and out of consciousness. There are lights and sirens and the smell of gasoline. Everything hurts more than you can bear. Hands pull you from the car and place you on a hard backboard with a rigid cervi…

Navigating medical decision-making: Embracing limits and growth

“Ms. Smith is going to the MICU,” the resident on the other end of the line informs me.  My stomach tightens as that visceral sense of guilt and frustration sets in, familiar by now but this time with a newfound intensity.  It is my second …