As hospital-based health care becomes more complex, specialized care often takes place in intensive care units (ICUs).
The ICU at Duke Raleigh Hospital is a 15-bed unit with both medical and surgical patients.
Our multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, and dietitians are available around the clock to help you, your family members, and your admitting physician.
The core critical care service (CCS) is made up of advanced level nurse practitioners and board-certified intensivists -- physicians with special training and qualifications in the care of the critically ill.
At any given time, at least one member of the CCS team is in the hospital to care for patients.
Advanced Assessment Tools
If you or your loved one is a patient in the ICU, you can expect the use of multiple devices, which are designed to allow more precise assessment of their condition. Many of these devices require invasive procedures to place.
If any significant risk is involved you may be asked to provide consent for such procedures, either for yourself or a loved one. For that and many other reasons, it is important that we know who the principal decision-maker is for a patient and have reliable contact information.
Any information you can provide regarding medical history and contact information for you or your loved ones’ primary care provider is extremely helpful.
A Team Approach to Care
Rounds are conducted each morning and involve the entire care team. Family members are encouraged to be available during this time to speak with the care team and learn about their loved one’s condition.
Critically ill patients often have changes in their condition and care plans change frequently (sometimes hourly) to meet patient needs. If you have questions about the care plan, do not hesitate to ask to speak to a member of the CCS team.
Maintaining a Life of Quality
Frequently, critical care services are provided in the last phases of long-term and severe illness. These services are appropriate and can be live saving, leading to the maintenance of a high quality of life.
However, patients and their families are the authority on what they value in terms of quality of life, and not all possible care may be desired or appropriate.
When a patient or their family has stated their wishes about limits of ICU care, those wishes will be honored. When they have not made these desires known, the CCS team will strive to provide effective and compassionate care intended to maintain and preserve a life that has meaning and value to the individual patient.
If you have concerns or questions about the effectiveness, appropriateness, or desirability of care for you or your loved one, we encourage you to discuss them with the CCS team.
Contact Us
If you have questions about your or your loved one’s condition at any time, ask to speak to a member of the CCS team and we will do our best to get you a timely and accurate response.
Nurse Practitioners
- Tara Sanders, RN, ACNP
- Eric Reyer, RN, ACNP
- Maria Sealey, RN, FNP
- Jill Tetterton, RN, ANP
Physicians
Physicians offering this service include:
