Intensive Care Unit

The Intensive Care Unit

Wollongong Private Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a state of the art 10 bed combined Intensive Care and High Dependency unit. The friendly team strive to provide the very best of medical and nursing care both in the ICU and via emergency response throughout the Hospital. We are equipped for short-term ventilation and cardiac monitoring of patients with a variety of medical and surgical problems. The ICU receives patients from the operating theatres, wards and other hospitals.

Admission to ICU can be very stressful for both patient and family. Our nurses and doctors appreciate you may have many concerns and wish to make your experience as easy as possible.

What to Expect

• We are a 10 bed Intensive Care Unit
• Be prepared to see lots of lines, tubes, wires and monitoring equipment
• Monitors have alarms that signal when something needs to be checked BUT are not always a cause for concern, a slight movement may trigger an alarm
• The patient will be unable to speak if on a ventilator but feel free to touch and talk to your loved one
• To prevent spread of infection wash your hands when entering and leaving the room, antimicrobial hand gel is also available inside every patient room
• You may be asked to wait in the waiting room during procedures and medical rounds

Visitors Policy

• Unless specifically requested by the family or the patient, only immediate family should visit patients in ICU.
• We request that visitors be limited to two visitors at any one time and be kept to short periods.
• Children under the age of 14 are not permitted in the ICU without prior nursing approval
• We request you turn off your mobile phone before entering ICU as these may interfere with patient monitoring equipment
• Cut flowers and potted plants can pose safety and infection control risks. Consequently we ask that you please save flowers until the patient is transferred to the ward.
• Many patients require a special diet for cultural and medical reasons. To comply with these requirements, we discourage bringing in food from external sources.

Visiting Hours are strictly 10am-12pm and 4pm-8pm

• Rest period for patients is between 12pm - 4pm. No visitors are permitted.
• If the only time you can visit is in the patient rest period, please negotiate this with nursing staff prior to your arrival.
• Visitors must notify ICU staff of their arrival before entering the unit. Please ring the doorbell on the intercom and wait outside until a staff member answers the door.
• Due to the unpredictable nature of the ICU a registered nurse or team leader must authorise visitor access to the unit.

Medical Information

• In accordance with privacy legislation, Medical information cannot be given out over the phone. Information about surgery can only be given by the Surgeon in person. We trust you understand this is a legal requirement.

What to Bring?

• It is important that only essential belongings are brought into the unit. All other belongings should be kept at home or until transferred back to the ward.
• Having photographs of family members and friends can be comforting to a patient who in the unit for a long time.
• Please do not bring any valuables