Doctors get well-deserved credit for their ability to heal injuries and save lives. Their knowledge and experience give them the skills to treat minor aches and pains and to cure those with live-threatening diseases.

Many people with serious injuries are brought into the intensive care unit (ICU) at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital, where the doctors use information given to them by nurses who constantly monitor the patients.

Registered nurse Blair Hoggle has been an ICU nurse for more than a year, and has worked at the hospital for almost four years.

“Nursing is something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said. “I enjoy everything about it: the patients, the training. I really like it here because you get one-on-one time with the patients, and can spend more time with them.”

Part of the work that Hoggle and her fellow nurses do in the intensive care unit includes telemetry monitoring and providing medications and ventilators.

“When we arrive at work, we get reports on the patients from the 7-to-3 shift,” Hoggle said, who works the shift from 3 to 11 p.m. “Then, we go in and assess our patients and do vital signs and medication.

“The main thing about the ICU is that we do drips. They can’t do that on the floor; we can monitor them here. We do the ventilators here, too.”

Doctors counting on the nurses to keep them apprised of each patient’s vital signs and any changes in their condition.

“We give the doctors the lab results and let them know about the patient’s condition,” Hoggle said.

Working with patients who need high-level care is a rewarding experience. Nurses in the intensive care unit provide that care to the patients and vital information to their doctors to help ensure the best treatment and recovery.

Nurses in the intensive care unit provide that care to the patients and vital information to their doctors to help ensure the best treatment and recovery.