Pediatric intensive care unit
area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, and teenagers
A pediatric intensive care unit (also paediatric), usually abbreviated to PICU (), is an area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, teenagers, and young adults aged 0–21. A PICU is typically directed by one or more pediatric intensivists or PICU consultants and staffed by doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists who are specially trained and experienced in pediatric intensive care. The unit may also have nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physiotherapists, social workers, child life specialists, and clerks on staff, although this varies widely depending on geographic location. The ratio of professionals to patients is generally higher than in other areas of the hospital, reflecting the acuity of PICU patients and the risk of life-threatening complications. Complex technology and equipment is often in use, particularly mechanical ventilators and patient monitoring systems. Consequently, PICUs have a larger operating budget than many other departments within the hospital.
History
Goran Haglund is credited with establishing the very first pediatric ICU in 1955; this PICU was located at Children's Hospital of Goteburg in Sweden. The first PICU in the United States is a topic often debated. Currently, Fuhrman's Textbook in Pediatric Critical Care lists Pediatric Critical Care Unit at the Children's Hospital of District of Columbia in Washington, DC, dating back to 1965, as the first pediatric critical care unit in the U.S.A. Medical Director was Dr. Berlin.
“Pediatric intensive care unit” enters the record as area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, and teenagers. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pediatric, intensive and care can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pediatric intensive care unit” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.