Intensive Care Unit

What to expect

Patients may be referred to the ICU from the Emergency Department or another unit within Mount Sinai, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre or other community hospitals.  

Our ICU team understands that waiting to hear the status of a patient’s health is extremely difficult. When a patient arrives at the ICU, our priority is providing necessary medical care immediately. This can take time. We will meet with the family or a designated caregiver to discuss the patient’s condition as soon as we can.

It is important to understand that the ICU uses a variety of equipment to care for patients. Patients may be attached to monitors to keep track of their vital signs, ventilators to help them breathe or dialysis machines to help their kidneys. This equipment can be noisy and alarms may go off. The alarms are safety measures and do not necessarily mean the patient is in danger. 

Communicating with our ICU team

Our ICU team believes that communication is essential, and we are committed to making sure family and caregivers stay informed. Caregivers can communicate with us in a number of ways:

• During daily rounds beginning at 9 a.m., when members of our ICU team meet by the patient’s bedside to talk about patient care  
• During family meetings or updates with our care team, which can be requested at any time through a nurse or social worker
• By talking to the patient’s nurse, who is the best point of contact if you have questions about care, treatment and progress
• Using the communication boards located in all patient rooms, which are whiteboards for sharing information, questions or messages

The substitute-decision maker (SDM) is usually the main person our ICU team communicates with. We ask that the SDM makes sure that important family members are listed on our hospital records and helps to keep family members updated.

If patients or caregivers can benefit from a professional interpreter or translator, please talk to your nurse or social to arrange for support through interpreter services.

Social workers and spiritual care providers are also available throughout a patient’s ICU stay and after ICU discharge for guidance or assistance.  

Please note we are a teaching hospital, so medical students, residents or other medical trainees are part of patient care. Medical trainees are supervised by other members of our dedicated health-care team who work together to provide comprehensive care.  

Visiting the ICU

The ICU is open to visitors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each patient can have two visitors at a time between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. After 7:30 p.m. and overnight, one visitor is allowed per patient.

Masking

There is a universal masking policy in the ICU. Visitors will need to wear the hospital-provided, medical grade mask available at the hospital entrance. Please keep it on during the entire visit. Eating and drinking are not permitted while in the ICU. Please use the visitor lounge or the food hall on the main floor to eat and drink. 

Your visit

When visitors arrive at the ICU, they should use the intercom in the waiting room to give their name and the name of the patient they are visiting.  

Please note that there may be times when visitors are asked to wait before seeing a patient. Visitors may also be asked to leave the ICU if the patient requires rest or care. Occasionally there are restrictions on the number of visitors allowed in a room, such as when infection control measures are increased. Our ICU team does our best to let families and caregivers know about these changes in advance.  

As Mount Sinai is a scent-free hospital, visitors should please refrain from wearing scented products. We also ask visitors to wash their hands often at hand hygiene stations or with soap and water to reduce the risk of infection.

Overnight visitors

Overnight visitors should please tell the nurse and make sure to get an overnight visitor band from security on the main (3rd) floor.

Children visiting the ICU

Children are welcome to visit patients in the ICU. It is a good idea to prepare them for their visit by telling them what to expect and answering any questions they might have. Please inform our ICU care team before bringing children to the ICU, so we can support their visit.

Supporting a patient in the ICU

Caregiver support is an important part of a patient’s care. To help a patient in the ICU, caregivers can:

• Visit frequently, but keep visits short
• Talk to the patient, even if they are sedated or unable to speak
• Reassure the patient about things that may be on their mind, such as the wellbeing children or pets
• If the patient is awake but not able to speak, communicate by asking questions that require only yes or no answers, with pictures or by using a pen and paper
• Show care by holding the patient’s hand or touching their face
• Bring some personal items from home, such as family photos (but no valuables, flowers or plants)
• Take some time to take care of themselves 

Leaving the ICU

When patients no longer need ICU-level care, they will be transferred to another unit at Mount Sinai or to their original hospital. Our ICU team will work with the new care team to make sure there is a smooth transition of care.  

Please note that visiting hours and policies in other units may be different from those in the ICU.