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Critical care nurse committee focuses on ICU patient care Critical Care Nurses Natalie Ward and Helen Holland, under the guidance of Mary Anderson, director of Critical Care and Emergency Services,  have organized a Critical Care Education Committee to raise the level of care for ICU patients.  “The main goals of this committee are to initiate a support network and provide educational resources for our critical care nurse population.”  Ward said.  She explained that MUSC’s five adult ICUs and emergency departments are staffed with nurses who have similar qualifications, although their duties vary from one unit to another. Patient population shifts sometime overflow one ICU, making it necessary to open beds in another unit to accommodate them.  Additionally, the complex nature of some patient’s conditions could qualify them for a bed in two different intensive care units, for example when a patient received the first ever heart/liver transplant at MUSC.  Normally heart-transplanted patients go to the CTICU while liver transplants go to the STICU, both patient surgeries require specialized nursing care.  Ward said that the committee is working on a “Critical Care Competency Packet” that briefs nurses on the priority clinical issues related to certain conditions and the use of specialized equipment. The group is also compiling a list of nurses who will serve as resources to other critical care areas in the event that they admit an off-service patient with care needs they are unfamiliar with.  Currently the Critical Care Education Committee is planning the first ever critical care nurse retreat to be held in January at James Island County Park. “This will get all the adult ICU and emergency nurses together,” Ward said.  Several guest speakers are slated to attend including Dr. John Heffner, Dr. Charlie Strange, and Rosemary Ellis from MUSC, and Sharon Cox, a noted health care training and development consultant. Cox has a reputation for motivating nurses and showing them in entertaining and humorous ways how to work together. Another important initiative of this committee was beginning monthly critical care nursing forums.  The forums are one-hour educational lectures hosted by some of MUSC’s finest physicians, pharmacists, and nurses.  All nurses at MUSC are welcome and receive one continuing education unit for attendance. Ward, Holland, and Anderson started their committee in June and meet once a month to “develop strategies to combat nursing turnover, recruit new nurses, and support current staff,” according to the committee’s mission statement.  The committee is composed of nurse managers, unit educators, nurse specialists, clinical nurse leaders, and staff nurses from the emergency departments, Meducare, Four Eye, and all five adult intensive care units. The five adult ICUs under the Medical University Hospital Authority include: cardio-thoracic (CTICU), medical (MICU), coronary care (CCU), surgical-trauma-neuro (STNICU), and the Burn Unit.