AURORA | Dozens of nurses were practicing for their debut performance at the new Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion 2 on April 25.
They learned the locations of all their medical instruments, simulated the path they would bring patients from the helipad above the ICU into one of 24 patient rooms and practiced using a lift to reposition heavy patients during complex procedures.
On May 6, dress rehearsals will be over and the new ICU will officially open.
“We want to be able to make sure (the nurses) feel comfortable and confident, so patients and families can look at our staff and see the confidence in the care they’re delivering,” said Stephanie Cox, nurse educator at the Neuro ICU.
The 75 nurses, doctors, residents and practitioners at the Neuro ICU are the same ones who treated some of the patients who suffered brain-related injuries during the Aurora theater shooting. This is also the same group of people who revive patients with brain aneurisms, strokes or hemorrhages on a daily basis.
Now, they’re moving into their new home next to the Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion and increasing their bed capacity by 14 patient rooms.
“Before this, the Neuro ICU was always full and we had our patients housed in many different ICUs within the hospital,” said Dr. Robert Neumann, director of the Neuro ICU and co-director of the Stroke Program at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Staff at the new ICU also have another reason to celebrate. On April 11, The Joint Commission, a nonprofit health care accreditation organization, awarded the University of Colorado Hospital certification for Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers.
The certification has only been awarded to 30 other stroke centers in the nation. It requires that the stroke center participate in stroke research, have advanced imaging capabilities, coordinate post-hospital care for patients and have a dedicated neuro ICU unit with nurses and doctors providing round-the-clock care.
“It’s a very rigorous program, something they should be very proud of,” said Brett Coons, spokesman for The Joint Commission.
Neumann said the certification is a testament to not only the Neuro ICU’s hardworking staff, but also the University of Colorado Hospital’s Emergency Department and ambulance medics who facilitate seamless care for patients.
“It’s really nothing short of a ballet,” Neumann said. “A really well-orchestrated ballet.”
The Neuro ICU staff also includes neuro-intensivists, neuro-interventional radiologists and neuro-vascular surgeons who work around the clock — another reason why the department was awarded certification.
The nurses at the Neuro ICU also provide top-notch care quickly and efficiently because they’re certified in both critical and neuro-critical care, Neumann said.
“Without question, one of these nurses in his or her career in one year will save more lives than the vast majority of doctors will throughout their entire career,” he said. “That’s how fast they work.”
The Neuro ICU is also taking part in a cutting-edge, systemic cooling trial for ischemic stroke patients, or patients who suffer strokes because blood vessels aren’t properly supplying blood to the brain.
In the study, patients are cooled with an intravascular catheter which acts like an air-conditioning machine inside the body. “By cooling the entire body as well as the brain, that damaged area of the brain will have increased survivability,” Neumann said.
As part of the certification process, a team of medical inspectors visited the Neuro ICU in March when staff members were working at the old, 10-bed unit.
Members of The Joint Commission recommended the Neuro ICU improve on six items, including doing a better job of documenting brain pressure, blood pressure and oxygenation of each patient every five to 15 minutes.
“Compared to other hospitals that go through this process, we have very few items they wanted us to fix,” Neumann said.
Usually The Joint Commission asks stroke centers in hospitals to improve on about a dozen processes, he said.
Certification or no certification, Neumann said the nurses and doctors at the Neuro ICU love their jobs.
“It’s a genuine privilege for everyone, all these teams, to take care of people that are really sick and dying,” Neumann said. “There really isn’t a greater reward than seeing them come back six or eight months later when they come in so close to death.”
That was especially true for the staff at the Neuro ICU who treated Aurora shooting victim Caleb Medley, who suffered brain damage from being shot in the head and had to spend six months at the hospital.
Nurses and doctors treated 23 of the Aurora shooting victims at the University of Colorado Hospital, some of whom were at the Neuro ICU, said Kathi Waite, nurse manager at the Neuro ICU.
“When we heard about it, everybody came in all hands on deck,” she said.
Nurses will continue to provide high-quality care at the new Neuro ICU, which is why they’ve been familiarizing themselves with the layout of the area for several weeks. “We want to make sure we don’t have any delays here because we can’t find supplies or equipment fast,” Waite said.
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.