Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University is the Critical Care Treatment Center for Critically Ill Patients in Shanxi Province. It is the affiliated institution of the Critical Care Medicine Professional Committee of the Shanxi Medical Association, the Critical Care Physicians Branch of the Shanxi Medical Doctor Association, and the Critical Care Medicine Quality Control Division of the Shanxi Provincial Quality Control Center. It is also a training base for specialized critical care nurses in Shanxi Province. The department’s more than 90 medical and nursing staff constitute a young team full of passion and vitality. They care for the most critically ill and complex patients in the entire hospital and throughout the province.

The department’s construction fully meets the requirements for a modern ICU, and its medical equipment is advanced and appropriate. It currently consists of two wards, SICU and MICU, with 25 beds. In 2019, the MICU was expected to add 21 beds. The usable area of each bed exceeds 18 m², and all beds are located in independent units. The department is equipped with internationally advanced resuscitation and treatment equipment, and its medical and nursing staff possess excellent medical skills and extensive clinical experience in life support for multiple organ failure, clinical nutrition, severe infections, shock, severe acute pancreatitis, and the treatment of other diseases. The department can independently perform bedside hemofiltration, bedside ultrasonography, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, pulse indicator continuous cardiac output monitoring (PiCCO), and other procedures. Blind insertion of nasojejunal tubes and B-ultrasound-guided placement of nasojejunal tubes are at the leading level within the province. In addition, the department has introduced extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technology on the basis of its existing capabilities, creating hope for survival for patients with cardiopulmonary failure. It has also established a remote consultation system within the province to assist in the treatment of critically ill and emergency patients throughout Shanxi Province.

In 2011 and 2013, the Department of Critical Care Medicine was respectively designated as a National Key Clinical Specialty Development Project and a Key Discipline Development Project of Shanxi Province. The department has established subspecialty research directions in critical respiratory medicine, critical nephrology, critical care nutrition, critical cardiology, and critical infections, and is gradually improving the development of talent teams in each research direction. It attaches great importance to the training of young physicians and nurses, encourages young physicians and nurses to pursue doctoral degrees, undertake advanced training elsewhere, and participate in overseas study programs and other forms of continuing education, and systematically sends department personnel for subspecialty training. The department currently has 2 chief physicians, 3 deputy chief physicians, 8 attending physicians, 8 resident physicians, 1 deputy chief nurse, 8 nurses-in-charge, 58 registered nurses, and 5 nurses.

Under the leadership of leaders at all levels, all medical and nursing personnel of the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University will work with full confidence and high morale, striving with an enterprising spirit and a pragmatic work style. They will contribute their efforts to the development of the department, build it into one of the centers for the treatment of patients with difficult and critical illnesses in Shanxi Province and even the North China region, and provide first-rate, high-quality medical and nursing services for critically ill patients.