Intensive Care Unit of the Queensland Centre for Congenital Heart Disease

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The Prince Charles Hospital Health Service District

Koala Heart Bear Our Intensive Care Unit

Paediatric Inensive Care Unit After surgery most children are transferred from the Operating Theatre suite to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for close monitoring during this phase of their care. The PICU is constantly staffed by specialist nurses and doctors. In this setting immediate family members continue the holistic family centred care approach – (visitor numbers are limited though). During this phase, a child may have tubes and wires attached to them. As they recover, these will be removed.

Once stable, the child is transferred to the Children’s Ward.

Equipment in PICU

To assist in the recovery of the child there are many different machines in operation including: monitors, ventilators and intravenous pumps.
Monitors look just like a TV screen and show what the heart and lungs are doing. A number of wires placed on different parts of the child's body send information to the monitor such as heart rate and how much oxygen the child is getting. If anything needs attention the monitor will sound an alert beep for the care team to respond.
The ventilator helps the child to breathe by pumping oxygen into the lungs from a tube through the mouth or nose. It makes a whooshing sound and sometimes it will give an alert beep for the care team to respond. A child will not be able to eat or talk when on the ventilator.
An IV (intravenous) tube inserted into a vein in the child’s arm or neck is used to deliver medicine, fluids and nutrients via an IV bag attached to a mechanical pump. This is used when a child is unable to eat or drink. When the IV bag is nearly empty, the pump will give an alert beep for the care team to respond.

Other PICU Information

Cots/Beds
Baby bed Small babies have a specially designed “open” cot, which helps control the baby’s temperature and children are cared for in a bed. Warm blankets are also available.

Feeding
Sometimes instead of an IV tube the child will have a feeding tube in their nose or mouth. This tube goes all the way to the stomach and is called a nasogastric tube. Having tubes in the nose is not always comfortable but as soon as the child is well enough to eat and drink for themselves the tube is removed.

Drainage tubes
Usually the child will have a drain or two in their chest, which drains fluid from the operation site. For a short period the child will also have a tube called a catheter which goes into the bladder which drains urine into a bag hanging on the side of the bed. This will mean that the child will not need to go to the bathroom. The nurses will monitor and chart how much fluid is going into and out of the child’s body.

Teddy Bears

ICU Staff

Last Updated: December 2003
Last Reviewed: December 2003