This is a project that I have decided to undertake due to the passion that I have for Critical Care Nursing.  I have been a Critical Nurse for 26 years at a major teaching hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I love the challenges that I face everyday that I work.  For me, Critical Care Nursing is something that never grows old; instead it continues to grow and become more complex and technical.  I have had my Certification for over 20 years and hope that as the pages of this web site evolve that I can impart some of the knowledge and experience that I have gained during that time. 

My experience in Critical Care Nursing is in the areas of  the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit ( Open Heart ), PACU, and Coronary Care Unit where I presently work.  The first two areas are where I spent the first 22 years of my nursing career and I have been in the Coronary Care Unit for just a little over 5 ½ years now.  There are many other areas of Critical Nursing that will be  addressed on this web site.   

This will not be a place where you learn every little detail about each of the specialties within Critical Care Nursing but where you will be introduced to each of these areas and given an idea what you will find when working in these areas. You will then also be given access to other tools that will then help you gain a more in-depth knowledge of each Critical Care area. Some of the areas that I will address are amongst the following:  Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Coronary Care Unit, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Burn Special Care Unit, Neuro Intensive Care Unit, PACU, and the Emergency Care Unit. Obviously this is a daunting list of ICU’s so again this web site will evolve as I address each of these areas.  In these pages you will find an introduction to each of these areas, including some of the special skills that are required to work in these areas.  For instance on the subject of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit I will introduce you to the subjects of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, Heart Transplant Surgery, and Left Ventricular Assist Devices.  Again I will not go into these subjects in depth as I do not profess to be an expert in all areas of Critical Care Nursing. I will introduce you to these concepts and then give you access to other places where you can then build on the information that you are given in this web site. 

My  hope is that you will find Introduction to Critical Care Nursing a web site that will give you the knowledge that will  increase your desire to look further into a specialized area within Critical Care Nursing and then find the passion that has followed me in my quest for giving the best possible patient care to my patients that I can.