Life can be challenging when a family member is critically ill. The intensive care specialists at Banner Heart understand and they focus on providing the most advanced and compassionate care during these times.
The Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) at Banner Heart Hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. The staff works together to attend to the special needs of patients and to keep family members informed. A specially trained team of registered nurses (RNs) and respiratory care practitioners (RCPs) collaborate to oversee the care and treatment of each patient.
The respiratory care practitioners follow the patient’s oxygen needs, administer respiratory treatments, manage the respirator, draw blood for lab tests and perform EKGs. The registered nurse is the primary caregiver and administers medications, performs physical assessments and coordinates any other care needed. The health care team works closely with the physician however the time of doctor visits is determined by each individual physician.
iCare, eICU
In addition to caregivers at the ICU bedside, Banner Health was the first health provider the in metropolitan Phoenix and northern Colorado areas to use Baltimore-based VISICU Inc’s eICU® technology. eICU will allow:
Intensive care physicians (intensivists) to remotely monitor patients in multiple intensive care units
Intensivists back up nurses and other caregivers at the bedside and help monitor ICU patient information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
A key feature of the eICU® system is the ability to pick up nearly imperceptible changes in a patient’s condition or vital signs. Because intensive care patients are so medically fragile, this early warning system can help head off life-threatening complications.
Banner’s eICU® electronic command center is located at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz. The initial installations of iCare, eICU technology are operating successfully at:
- Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center (16 beds)
- Banner Mesa Medical Center (15 beds)
- Banner Heart Hospital (22 beds)
- Banner Desert Medical Center CVICU (seven beds)
- North Colorado Medical Center (16 beds)
- Banner Estrella Medical Center (24 beds)
- Banner Baywood Medical Center (26 beds)
Eventually, Banner will provide iCare coverage for all its ICU beds.