Combined Critical Care Unit is a 16 bed ICU that is responsible for delivering care to critically ill patients using the nursing process. They work with the interdisciplinary team to individualize patients' plan of care and acts as a patient advocate. CCCU population is a mix of medical, surgical, and cardiology patients on multiple intravenous drips. CCCU registered nurses are competent in taking care of patients hemodynamically unstable patients on multiple central lines. They are very knowledgeable in managing code stroke, code sepsis, and code blue patients. They are leaders that collaborate and coordinate with the physician and the whole healthcare team to provide quality care to patients. They can monitor hospital safety for potential environment hazards and strict adherence to infection control.

For Fiscal Year 2023, even though CCCU has the highest number of central lines and foley catheters, they have zero CLABSI and zero CAUTI to date. They work hard in making sure that central lines and foley catheters do not stay longer than it needs to.

CCCU Team shows passion for nursing and care as evidenced by their continued commitment to learning new things and incorporating evidence-based practices in their day-to-day practice. During COVID-19, CCCU team wanted to give our Veterans the best chance possible, so they immediately implement proning the patient. They studied, practiced, and made training videos to ensure that everybody is knowledgeable in the process of proning our Veterans. CCCU Teams reflect empathy towards our Veterans. This is evidenced by our Critical care teams putting themselves in the shoes of our Veterans. They know that when our Veterans are in the hospital, they do not get the sleep they need. They know that rest and sleep promote healing. Therefore, they implemented Quiet Time in CCCU. These are 2-hour block periods that our Veterans are not interrupted as they rest. With the COVID- 19 visitor restrictions, our Veterans and their families felt a disconnect that brought about fear and depression among our Vets. The CCCU team promoted the use of FaceTime so our veterans can see and talk to their loved ones while in the hospital.

Trust and Teamwork within the unit are evidenced by multiple DAISY Award nominations and awardees. This team knows that they can rely on each other and will maintain the excellent standard of care that each one has. They know that each member of the team is accountable for their actions. Any member of the team is not afraid to voice out their concerns and issues. They know that instead of a reprimand, a solution will be made. This is evidenced by multiple great catch awards that the members of this team have.

Critical care team members have a thirst for knowledge. This is one of the most admirable attributes the team possesses. On top of the 22 annual competencies they do, they also have IABP, IMPELLA, NIH, EZ-IO certifications that they renew annually. They have about 50% certified Critical care nurses on their team. The critical care team cross-trained multiple nurses from different units to make sure that during the COVID-19 surge would have enough nurses to take care of the patients. The team also floats to multiple units to make sure that the hospital is well-staffed for our Veterans. This team goes to different units to help educate about new protocols, standards, and procedures like the CODE STROKE and CODE SEPSIS.

Their love for their patients and the nursing profession and their selflessness are what make a critical care nurse. Having to save a life every day and having time to take care of the patient and their loved one is a crucial component of their lives. They would miss their breaks to make sure that their patients' needs are first met before their own. They hold their pee just to make sure that our Veterans can. This team would give up their lunch to move a veteran's car from the parking lot to prevent our Veteran from getting a ticket. This team would spend hours inside a COVID-19 room when the fear of COVID-19 was still unknown. This team will get out of their breaks to assist our Veterans so they can go home early or respond to an emergency within the hospital.