ABSTRACT
The idea of first day working in intensive care can be a daunting prospect. In the hospital, the intensive care unit (ICU) is often perceived as a vastly complex world of 'life support', ventilators and inotropes. During the daily review, one will be confronted with the vast array of equipment in each bed space. There will be a monitor screen with more sections than one might expect, and each patient may well be connected to a host of syringe drivers and infusion pumps, in addition to a ventilator and other organ support. In many ICUs, the daily reviews are carried out by juniors, followed by a consultant-led round. The on-call medical staff may well be called away to review unwell patients on the ward, and if there are many patients requiring ICU review, more people may have to leave the unit.
