MidCentral DHB’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a specially staffed and equipped department that provides care and treatment for patients.
Intensive Care Unit
Midcentral DHB’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a specially staffed and equipped department that provides care, specific monitoring and treatment for patients.
Patients who are experiencing severe or life threatening medical problems, or who have suffered severe trauma or had undergone high-risk surgical procedures are admitted to the ICU.
About MidCentral’s ICU
The ICU is located on the 5th floor of Palmerston North Hospital. The unit has six beds with one nurse caring for one patient in the majority of cases. Medical staff are on site in ICU and are immediately available 24-hours a day.
The ICU admits close to 500 patients a year. Most patients stay in the unit no more than 2 days but some sicker patients will have much longer stays.
Patients admitted to ICU who may require neurosurgery (brain surgery) or heart surgery may have to be transferred to Wellington Hospital or another tertiary centre. Some critically unwell children admitted to our unit may have to be transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland.
Visiting patients in ICU
The ICU endeavours to keep family members fully informed about their loved ones – if you are unsure about anything please ask a staff member.
- The ICU staff encourage family and friends to visit.
- Visitors are asked to avoid visiting between 8am and 11am so as to permit the doctor’s round to be completed along with nursing patient cares. Visiting during this period will be considered in special circumstances after discussion with the ICU team.
- Due to physical constraints the unit has a policy of allowing only two visitors at the bedside at any one time.
- Sometimes when visitors are at the bedside they may be asked to step outside of the unit to allow staff to attend to their family member (or other patients in the unit). Some of these instances are time critical so please respect these requests and vacate when asked.
- There is a policy of no fresh flowers in the ICU because of the risk posed by organisms found on the flowers or in the water. Flowers can be sent to ICU patients but they must remain outside the unit.