The intensive care treatment team
The treatment of critically ill patients calls for specific expertise, which specialist physicians in intensive care medicine and intensive care nursing staff acquire through many years of training and which they maintain and develop through continuing education and professional development.
An intensive care unit recognized or certified by the Swiss Society of Intensive Care Medicine (SGI - SSICM) is run by a specialist physician in intensive care medicine. Intensive care physicians have usually completed ten to twelve years of further training before they take over the running of an intensive care unit. They are hence specialists with broad and profound medical knowledge.
The departmental head of nursing manages the intensive care unit from the nursing perspective. As well as further training to become a Swiss-certified expert in intensive care (NDS HF) or an equivalent qualification, the head of nursing will also have management training. The nursing staff working on intensive care units, after their basic training, have completed two years’ further training in intensive care (NDS HF) whereby they gain comprehensive knowledge in the demanding field of intensive care.
The inter-professional treatment team in an intensive care unit is complemented by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dieticians, commercial and medical technology staff as well as research and teaching staff, depending on additional tasks, so that patients have the best chance of regaining full health.