Intensive Care

After a severe injury, serious illness, or major surgery, you may spend time in the intensive care unit (ICU) at UNC Health Johnston in Clayton or Smithfield. You’ll benefit from round-the-clock monitoring and expert staff specially trained to help you recover.

What is Intensive Care?

Intensive care, also called critical care, gives you the hospital’s highest level of medical support. Nurses and doctors with certifications in life support watch your vital signs 24/7 and respond quickly to changes in breathing, heartbeat, and other body functions. Their timely care helps you stay as well as possible.

Conditions We Treat

Expect intensive care for conditions that threaten your life or a major organ:

• Breathing trouble, including severe asthma attacks, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) flare-ups
• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Kidney failure
• Sepsis
• Severe allergic reaction
• Stroke
• Traumatic brain injury
  ICU Services
  Your ICU team cares for you with special tools and advanced technology such as:
• Feeding tube – Provides nutrition when you cannot eat normally
• Intra-aortic balloon pump – Inflates and deflates a tiny balloon in your major artery to help a weakened heart pump more blood
• Intravenous (IV) lines – Provide medication, fluids, or nutrients through a vein
• Ventilator – Gives your lungs extra air through a mouth-and-nose mask or a breathing tube put into your throat

Visiting Guidelines

Visit a loved one in the ICU any time. Up to three guests may be in the room at once. Children may not visit during flu season (fall to early spring).

Support for Families

Request spiritual care for emotional support and counsel on issues of ethics—regardless of your faith background or personal beliefs. Your family will receive compassionate guidance from an empathetic chaplain or trained volunteer.

After Intensive Care

When your condition is stable, you’ll move to a progressive care unit—an intermediate level of care. Your doctor may recommend rehabilitation services to help restore your ability to move, do tasks, speak, or swallow after a serious medical condition.