Silence in the ICU: A Dangerous Culture

It's 6:15 in the morning in the neuro ICU. The halls are nearly empty and night

shift is counting down the last minutes before handoff. However, inside one room,

a monitor's alarm breaks the silence. In critical care, seconds can mean survival.

And the nurse assigned to this particular patient called for help that didn't come.

Every nurse remembers the first time they felt truly alone in a crisis. This story is about

mine. This is the story of a patient who almost didn't make it,

and how I learned that silence can be just as dangerous as aggression. I called for help

as I watched my pacen- patient's ICP rise. I needed another set of hands to