The role of the Nurse in EECC
One of the fundamental principles of EECC is to break down Silos of Medical Firms and Specialities. Similarly the founders of EECC have striven to avoid labelling medical and nursing staff with hierarchal titles. The supposition is that registered nurses and junior medical staff have the same skillset role and ability to undertake Tier 1 critical care. In may countries, Registered Nurses have stepped up to become Advanced Practitioners, Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Consultants. However, this website is dedicated to boosting the role of Staff Nurses and Nursing Officers and supporting them to make the transition to critical care nursing.
A typical critical care unit in low-income and variable resource environments has a limited number of beds and a mixture of medical equipment and basic furnishings. The nursing staff are usually the most visible health professional and a senior nursing officer will be responsible for managing the critical care unit. Very few critical care units / ICUs have a permanent doctor in situ. More likely the hospitals at DGH level will have Anaesthesiologists who also undertake Theatre lists and other roles within the hospital. Junior doctors will visit if they are involved with a particular patient.
Consequently, critical care nurses in low-income and variable resources need an enhanced ability to initiate emergency drills and undertaken intervention and advanced resuscitation, pending definitive medical treatment when a doctor arrives. As mentioned there are 40 care interventions that are the basis for tier 1 critical care. Educational and training programmes are running in Tanzania and Cameroon are developing large groups (100+) of Doctors, Nurse Anaesthetists and Registered Nurses to enable them to undertake assessment using the ABCDE model and perform some urgent medical interventions that are within the remit of an experienced nurse who is specialising in critical care.