My name is Dr. Jenna Liphart Rhoads. I am a nurse, educator, and writer who has earned a BSN, MS, and Ph.D. in nursing education.

My first job as an RN was in an adult surgical/trauma critical care unit at a Level-1 trauma center. My typical day would start as I arrived on the unit around 6:40 am to get situated and begin looking up patient information before my shift started at 7 am. Most of the time I had two patients (2-1 patient-nurse ratio), but sometimes a patient was a 1-1 and I would have only one patient that day. I would receive the patient care report from the RN who had my patient(s) over the night shift (7p-7a) at the bedside of each patient. Once shift change and report was over, I would start an assessment on each patient and administer their medications. During this time the critical care team would be making rounds to visit all of the patients and I would need to be present to give a report to the attending surgeon or senior resident. The rest of my day comprised of various duties: oral care for vented patients, trach care, central line care, turning and positioning patients, administering medications and titrating IV medications, taking patients for CT scans or MRIs, assisting the surgeons in bedside procedures, answering family member’s questions, and keeping a very close eye on my patients to keep them alive.

Pros and Cons

The pros of being a critical care nurse include a small nurse-to-patient ratio, working closely with primary care providers, performing high-level nursing skills, and the fast pace of patient care in the ICU. Some of the cons include not very much interaction with the patient because they are often heavily sedation and intubated, enduring very emotional situations because the patients are very sick, and the pressure of literally working all day to keep people alive. I hope this information is helpful.

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