Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is for sick children who need intensive care. The staff knows how to care for children with organ failure, bone marrow, solid organ transplants, trauma, burns, major surgery, and the separation of conjoined twins. We give them everything they need to deal with critical illnesses, like mechanical ventilation and kidney replacement therapy. With a dedicated pediatric rapid response team, we can get to a sick child anywhere in the hospital (PRRT). There is an intensivist, a PICU nurse, a clinical pharmacist, a respiratory therapist, a dietician, a physiotherapist, and a psychologist in the PICU. These people work together to give multidisciplinary care focused on the family. Our hardworking staff offers many learning ways, such as formal teaching programs in pediatric critical care, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), simulation, quality and patient safety, and research experiences in clinical and quality improvement.
Mission of PICU
The pediatric critical care unit provides comprehensive and integrated acute care management, medical education, training, and research for children.
Vision of PICU
Excellence in Pediatric critical care delivery recognized worldwide.
Objectives of PICU
To provide Comprehensive multidisciplinary critical care.
To implement high quality and patient safety standards.
To achieve excellence in clinical and academies pediatric critical care delivery.
PICU Programs
Pediatric Rapid Response Team Program (PRRT).
PICU quality and patient safety program.
PICU simulation program.
PICU bioinformatics program.
Education and Training in PICU
The Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship Program at KASCH-KAMC RIYADH is a 3-year training program that is approved by the SCFHS and can take up to 12 fellows. We give up to four positions each year to people who have finished a residency in pediatrics and are board-certified or board-eligible by the SCFHS.
Our curriculum includes extensive learning experience in medical, surgical, trauma, cardiac, and neurocritical care. Our PICU fellowship program has a well-established curriculum for simulation, mentoring, research, POCUS, quality, and patient safety.
PICU Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The PICU division uses well-defined performance measures to track, improve, and change the critical care services they give to sick children and make patients, their families, and the people who work in health care happier. We also use these measures to compare our performance to that of other care facilities and find places where we can do better.
Here is a list of some PICU KPIs in action:
Ventilator associated pneumonia rate.
Central Line associated blood stream infection rate
PICU occupancy rate
OR cancellation due to PICU bed non-availability rate
PICU Length of stay
PICU mortality rate
Extubation failure rate
Unplanned extubation rate
PICU readmission rate
PICU Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries
Number of PICU Medication Administration Errors.
PICU hand Hygiene Compliance rate.
PICU Clinical Care Outcomes
PICU admissions increased gradually over the last five years to exceed one thousand admissions annually before the Covid-19 pandemic. In the year (2020) we had 954 admissions (36% Post-surgical admissions). Despite this increment in the number of sick children served in our unit, PICU quality of care has notably improved in many aspects, such as:
Decline in medication administration errors rate by 75%.
Zero Ventilator associated pneumonia rate for first quarter 2021 .
Zero OR cancellation due to PICU bed non availability.
Successful implementation of Nurse driven sedation protocol in PICU.
Successful implementation of Pediatric rapid response system to serve deteriorating children outside PICU.