Lucia Maggiorini

I have worked as a band 5 critical care nurse since qualifying in 2022. I knew from my years working in psychiatric intensive care that working in a general ITU would be the best fit for me as a nurse. Through my time here i have become a confident and competent nurse learning to manage patients with a variety of issues. I regularly manage/ maintain a variety of bodily functions such as blood pressures with inotropes, titrate and manage a variety of oxygen therapies and ventilation types, and also manage CRRT. Managing peri-arrest patients is a regular part of my job and requires working well under pressure, excellent time and task management skills and also team work and team management skills too. I have completed ILS training and am working towards completing ALS. Further to this, I have completed the nationally recognised STEPS Framework for Adult Critical Care competencies at level 1, 2 and 3. This has furthered my knowledge and understanding of nursing in critical care including the different body systems, how these systems can fail and how to correct them. Working with a nurse to patient ratio of 1:1 or 1:2 means that I get to spend all of my time focusing just on my 1 or 2 patience which is the main reason i was drawn to critical care. I enjoy being able to dedicate and concentrate my time and efforts on less patients. I am able to give higher quality nursing care, for example, being able to spend more time talking with patients and their families so they understand their current situation, or being able to help with personal care without feeling rushed. These more personal factors combined with my extensive critical care training is what makes me continue to want to be a critical care nurse when I travel to Australia.

After qualifying from my psychology degree and gaining an understanding of the way in which peoples minds can work I decided that I wanted to work in a more practical way to help people. Working in psychiatric intensive care meant that my main role was to keep people in crisis safe first and foremost. The more extreme ways in which this was done by utilising restraints and 1:1 observations. However this also included using distraction and de-escalation techniques, talking therapies and building genuine therapeutic relationships. Being able to make direct and immediate differences to patients lives and health is what made me realise that the nursing profession is where I will thrive.