Job Description:
The staff nurse is a professional nurse who, with minimal supervision, is responsible for providing nursing care to patients. Patient care includes assessment, interventions, and reassessments of the patient. The nurse is also responsible for planning, implementing, educating, and evaluating care of patients/caregivers. In the spring of 2026, the Special Care Unit (SCU), our critical care step-down and the Pediatric ICU (PICU) will combine to create a new 50-bed, acuity-adjusted PICU. This new unit will be located on the 12th floor of the Russell Building, allowing Children's to better meet the needs of our highest-acuity patients in Alabama. The PICU has 24/7 Pediatric Intensivist coverage, as well as Pediatric ICU Fellows and Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Pediatric Hospital Medicine coverage as well as General Surgery will also be part of the PICU team. The collaboration between the disciplines is excellent. Patient-Family Centered Rounds are done 2-3 times daily with participation from family and staff. There is a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, chaplains, respiratory therapists, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and child life therapists who work together to meet the needs of our patients. The PICU patient population is very diverse. About 60 % of the patients are medical patients and about 40% are surgical. Of the surgical patients, half are trauma patients. We care for children with a wide variety of diagnoses including but not limited to: respiratory failure, renal failure, shock, status epilepticus, status asthmatics, GI bleeding, hematology/oncology diagnoses, and burns. We also care for patients requiring ECMO and CRRT, and post-Liver or Kidney transplant patients. We care for patients ranging from days old up to 21+ (chronic patients still under the care of their pediatric subspecialists). The average patient length of stay is between 3-4 days. Our normal nurse to patient ratio is 1:1 or 1:2 and sometimes in extremely critical patients 2:1 (such as ECMO, or patients requiring massive transfusion resuscitation). Our Charge Nurses do not take a patient load and manage the day-to-day operation and patient flow in the unit. Depending on census/acuity there will be 1 to 2 Resource PICU nurses who float around the unit assisting with procedures, admissions, transfers, and codes. PICU physicians and nurses also respond to Codes throughout the hospital, and act as back-ups for the rapid response team. Our new Pediatric ICU offers a welcoming environment for new staff, so they can learn and develop new skills. Our multidisciplinary approach, commitment to excellence, focus on teamwork and dedication to patient care helps us ensure we provide the very best for our patients and families.
