CPR, ICU and Seeing (Less) Dead People

Recently I was chatting with a friend about her new role which is exclusively in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) as a nurse.

ICU is where the seriously ill go in hospitals in Australia, so I asked, "Has it been hard seeing more people pass away in this role?"

"No, actually it's been much less than normal. I haven't even had to do CPR once yet in ICU but I used to do CPR once a week on general wards."

I couldn't believe it. She explained to me that people on the wards would need CPR more often because their vital signs weren't being measured as closely so things would develop without nurses and doctors realizing it.

In other words, some seriously ill were doing better in ICU because of close monitoring than many slightly ill people on the general wards.

It makes me wonder, what are the 'slightly ill' and 'seriously ill' issues in your team and organization (and life)?

Want to see those areas recover? Then monitor them closely. What gets measured gets managed.

What can you do today to measure the areas that matter most more closely than ever before?