The practice of nursing requires specialized knowledge, judgment, and skills to provide care to groups and individuals. The RN utilizes knowledge derived from the principles of biological, physical, behavioral, social, and nursing sciences to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate patient care.  All care is provided based on the concepts inherent in the model of care for TCH which promotes an on-going partnership between patients and families and the team of healthcare providers. The care is culturally based and age specific.  The RN adheres to American Nursing Association (ANA) code of ethics and to the scope of practice described in the Ohio Nurse Practice Act.

The Critical Care Clinical Interns are primarily night shift or rotating day/night shift team members. 

The Critical Care Clinical Intern units include:

Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU): The Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) is a 28-bed cardiovascular recovery and intensive care unit. It is a fast-paced environment where state-of-the-art technology, nationally recognized standards of care and critical thinking skills are utilized by the all-RN staff to provide compassionate patient and family-centered care.  Our CVICU RN's are highly proficient in pre-operative support as well as immediate post-operative recovery of cardiovascular procedures. This includes open heart surgery, heart transplants, ventricular assist device implantation, and various interventional and structural heart procedures.  Acute cardiology and heart failure patients also receive care in CVICU.  These high acuity patients are managed many times on inotropic support or temporary left and right ventricular devices.  Our highly competent nurses care for patients with Impellas, IABP's, ECMO, C-Mag and in the near future Total Artificial Hearts.   Staff expertly manage all types of invasive lines, medications, hemodynamic needs, continuous dialysis and ultrafiltration machines, and various ventricular assist devices both permanent and temporary.  Good patient outcomes and patient safety is our number one priority, and our nurses are highly supported by their leadership and interdisciplinary teams.

Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU): The Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) is a 12-bed unit located in the Joint and Spine building of our facility . Our team prides itself on our teamwork! In the SICU we take care of a variety of patient populations including neurology, neurosurgery, general surgery, vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, internal medicine, and OB/GYN surgery.  Many patients are admitted to the SICU directly from the operating room for their initial recovery period including those undergoing kidney transplants or needing intraventricular/intracerebral monitoring.  All SICU nurses become NIH Stroke Scale Certified and trained to set up continuous EEG within their first year on the unit. We strive to provide exceptional care to both our patients and their families with every interaction.

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU): Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) is a 20-bed intensive care unit located on 7 West.  We provide holistic and compassionate care for patients with numerous diagnoses including pneumonia, GI bleed, respiratory failure, sepsis, heart failure, MI, post-cardiac arrest (including hypothermia protocols), acute renal failure, multi-system organ failure, and many others. Nurses utilize a variety of equipment including the Arctic Sun Temperature Management System and continuous dialysis machines. The MICU is a closed unit, with an Intensivist Physician serving as the attending for each patient. The Christ Hospital is a teaching facility, giving us the opportunity to work closely with the Medical Residents in the MICU, and allowing us to train new nurses through the Critical Care Nurse Residency Program. The MICU holds primary responsibility for the Rapid Response Team, responding to calls throughout the hospital.  The MICU RN’s strive to utilize technology and evidence-based practice to provide compassionate and efficient care to achieve best possible outcomes for patients and families.