Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Nursing Careers
Nurses in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit provide specialized care to infants, children and youth who have urgent and or serious health needs.
About the unit
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) provides critical care to more than 1,200 patients each year. It is the only intensive care unit in British Columbia that specializes in pediatric medicine. We serve children from newborn to age 17.
PICU patients have urgent needs due to life-threatening disease; injury; or surgery, such as cardiac or brain surgery.
The PICU is a 28-bed unit, arranged in three pods:
- specialty care
- cardiac
- medical/surgical
Nurses generally care for one patient, since the patients' needs are complex. Patient care requires us to coordinate many care providers, including allied health professionals.
Multiple positions support the nursing team. These include:
- a program manager
- clinical educators
- clinical nurse coordinators
- a clinical nurse specialist
- a quality risk leader
Together, this group supports nurses to provide the best-quality patient care possible, using education and research for innovative approaches to care.
Flexible scheduling
The master rotation creates flexibility by allowing self- and colleague-exchanges. For the first several months in the department, we align your schedule with your preceptor's.
Training and education
BC Children's Hospital and PHSA offer specialized PICU training and other professional development education opportunities.
PICU has partnered with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) to provide new hires with opportunities for specialized education in pediatric critical care.
Our Advanced Certificate in Pediatric Nursing Specialty – Critical Care program takes up to 24 months to complete. It has three phases: online, tutor-supported critical care theory, and preceptor-supported clinical.
Students complete the training by preparing and writing the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) – Pediatric Critical Care Exam by the third year.
BC Children’s Hospital is committed to supporting ongoing learning through:
- dedicated education days
- interdisciplinary education, including simulation
- a variety of workshop and conference opportunities
The PICU has opportunities in continuous quality improvement projects, committees and the unit-based council.
Advanced clinical and leadership opportunities are available on an ongoing basis within the department and organization. Many staff choose to advance their skills in areas such as extracorporeal life support.