Introduction
Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally. We can reduce death rates through proper management. The coronary care unit aims to provide patients with a high standard of care. A special hospital unit called the cardiac care unit treats serious and acute cardiac patients. It is a specialized unit for heart disease patients who need constant care and support for a speedy recovery. Patients are admitted to the cardiac care unit for unstable and serious cardiac conditions which require full-time care and monitoring.
What Are Cardiac Care Units and Intensive Care Units?
The coronary care unit aims for holistic care for acute heart disease patients with a multidisciplinary approach with the initiation of early intervention. The cardiac care unit treats not only heart diseases but also chronic health diseases and secondary conditions. Patients are admitted for acute, serious, unstable cardiac conditions requiring constant monitoring. It is also called a critical coronary care unit, intensive cardiac care unit, and cardiovascular intensive care unit. Nurses, technicians, and doctors care for patients after their cardiac treatments. They monitor the patients round the clock and have more staff than other wards. They manage patients with critical conditions. The staff is well trained and has completed extensive training and advanced certifications.
An ICU is an intensive care unit. The intensive care unit provides 24-hour life support to the patients. Acute medical care comprises patients with primary cardiac problems. Specialists best manage patients with atrial fibrillation (a rapid heart rate that causes poor blood flow). Therapeutic services required to manage these patients are also best accessed through admission to acute cardiac care. Patients with significant structural heart disease who require investigation are admitted to the cardiac care unit. Patients requiring urgent transfer to more specialist units when definitive treatment is unavailable locally require monitoring before transfer. All heart patients with serious heart problems are managed from diagnosis to discharge under a senior specialist in the cardiac care unit.
What Are the Cardiac Conditions That Are Managed in a Cardiac Care Unit?
The following cardiac patients require to be treated in the cardiac care unit -
-
Those with serious heart diseases such as cardiac arrhythmia (improper electrical impulses in the heart), heart attack, myocardial infarction (a blockage in the heart’s blood vessels), unstable angina (no sufficient blood and oxygen supply to the heart), chronic stable angina (chest pain), and congenital heart disease.
-
Coronary artery bypass surgery (a procedure to treat coronary artery disease and help restore blood flow to the heart by creating a new route around the blockage for the blood to pass), valvular surgery, and heart transplantation. The team also manages patients with secondary conditions such as respiratory disease, septic infection, kidney disease, and diabetes.
-
Those who have serious burns.
-
Difficulty in breathing.
-
Those who have organ failure.
-
Have a life-threatening infection.
-
Coma patients.
What Are the Services Provided by the Cardiac Care Unit?
The treatment strategies in the cardiac care unit are:
-
Close and constant observation of patients with severe diseases.
-
Intravenous antiarrhythmic drug therapy for patients with arrhythmia. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is used to detect abnormal rhythms by placing it in the patient safely. It produces electrical shock to the heart to restore normal rhythm. An automated external defibrillator (AED) can detect a person's heart rhythm. If required, it can produce an electrical shock to restore rhythm.
-
Hemodynamic monitoring is done to evaluate the effectiveness of heart function, such as cardiac output and heart rate.
-
After myocardial infarction (a blockage in the heart's blood vessels), the patient is provided respiratory support.
-
For older patients with poor general conditions, a temporary pacemaker implant (a device used to stimulate electrical impulses in the heart) is used.
What Is Critical Cardiovascular Care?
Most critical care takes place in the intensive care unit (ICU). The concept of critical care is to ensure the patient's survival and prevent end-organ damage by providing constant care and monitoring. Patients with acute myocardial infarction and congestive cardiac failure (heart failure) have been cared for with 24-hour support with the latest medical technology. The experienced staff with good knowledge of complicated surgical procedures care for patients with state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and technologies. Some hospitals divide the ICU into specific units, such as:
-
CICU (cardiac, coronary, or cardiovascular intensive care unit).
-
MICU (medical intensive care unit).
-
NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).
-
SICU (surgical intensive care unit).
-
TICU (trauma intensive care unit).
What Is the Medical Equipment in the Critical Care Units?
The following equipment is used in the critical care unit-
-
Monitoring systems for heart rate.
-
Blood pressure and respiratory rate monitors.
-
Portable X-ray.
-
Blood flow meter.
-
Pulse oximeter.
-
Blood gas analyzer.
-
Dialysis machine.
-
The cardiac output measurement system.
-
Catheters and intravenous lines for fluids and medications.
Cardiac care units are well equipped, and staff is present to manage issues. All patients are admitted to the critical care unit and monitored with a cardiac monitor that records their heartbeat and rate. It produces an alarm if the condition is serious. Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) helps pump blood for severe heart failure patients.
Conclusion
After the stay in cardiac care units (CCU), the patients are transferred to the cardiac step-down unit after six days, where they begin walking and moving regularly. After stepping down from the unit, the patients are advised to undergo cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiac rehabilitation or cardiac rehab is a guiding, interprofessional intervention program planned for heart patients to help them recover completely from heart disease and get back to their healthy routine healthy lifestyle in the long run. It is a medically supervised program for heart patients that enhances their general health after treatment. Cardiac rehab boosts the confidence, self-esteem, and determination to face the world and kick-start a normal healthy life. It helps reduce an individual's stress and anxiety after a cardiac treatment. A medically supervised team with a multidisciplinary approach helps the patient improve their functioning and quality of life, physically and mentally strengthening. Participating in cardiac rehabilitation puts a whole team of people on the patient’s side to help recover faster so the patient can get stronger and learn new skills to improve the quality of life.
