WE are living in the 21st century when technology has drastically changed the world, especially the medical world which has seen significant developments with regard to quality care, diagnosis, treatment and preventive measure. One of the major parts of medical world where technology has been doing wonders is the intensive care unit (ICU).

Life in the ICU revolves around team work, and it is up to the team leader to set the right direction. A major advancement in ICU settings is the involvement of physiotherapists who are responsible for acute care management as well for keeping secondary complications at bay.

As per the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) criterion, the main goal of the physiotherapist in ICU is to promote quality, value and consistency in providing outcomes of the services, and for this reason, establishing leadership skills is considered pivotal. By establishing leadership qualities, a physiotherapist can supervise various emergency procedures, such as airway management, cardiovascular life support, intubation, ventilator settings, bronchopulmonary clearance, oxygen therapy, catheterisation, bronchoscopy and other procedures by utilising sterile aseptic measurements that can reduce the chances of contamination and infection.

Other than showing leadership in the quality care services, a physiotherapist can also utilise leadership skills by showing creativity in terms of research and evidence-based practices for influencing intellectual capacity and enhancing the knowledge of other team members.

Nida Rizvi & Faizan Saeed Syed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2022