The Tweed Hospital

Unit Services

Services offered include respiratory, including both ventilatory and non-ventilatory support, cardiac monitoring, renal support, trauma and general Intensive Care services. Those patients that require a higher level of treatment, such as neurosurgery or cardiothoracic surgery are stabilised at Tweed Hospital prior to being transferred to a Hospital with the appropriate services. This is usually a major metropolitan Hospital in Brisbane.

Here at The Tweed Hospital we have a combined Intensive Care and High Dependency Unit that has seven (7) beds. Patients in the unit can be placed on monitors that show us their heart rate and their blood pressure. We also have machines (called ventilators) that can assist the patient in their breathing. Not all patients who come to our unit need a ventilator to help them breathe, but they do require a higher level of care than can be provided on the general wards.

Patients that require specialised care – e.g. burns, brain (neuro) surgery or heart (cardiac) surgery will not come to our unit at all but will be transferred as soon as possible to a specialised intensive care unit at another hospital. Children (16 years or younger) who need intensive care services also need special care and they too will be transferred to a specialised intensive care unit at another hospital.

Unit Staff

Doctors (Intensive Care Staff Specialists), who have trained in intensive care medicine, lead our unit. One or more of these doctors are present in the unit daily. When not in the unit they can be reached by telephone. We also have doctors undertaking their studies in critical care medicine who cover the unit through out the day and night. There is a senior registered nurse in charge of the unit every shift.

If a patient needs help with their breathing (on a ventilator) then one nurse will look after that patient per shift. If a patient can breathe without the help of a ventilator, one nurse may be taking care of two (2) patients during the shift. Our unit also has the help of Allied Health Professionals such as a physiotherapist, pharmacist, dietician and social worker throughout the day.

Visitor Services

At the Tweed Hospital ICU we do not have set visiting hours as we appreciate that a patients illness can occur day or night, although we do encourage relatives to limit visitors to two at a time and they may be asked to take a seat in the waiting room to allow nursing staff to attend to patient cares and during doctors rounds. The doctor’s rounds are usually conducted daily.

We appreciate that loved ones wish to express their concern of relatives by bringing flowers but due to space constraints and possible allergies within the unit we do discourage flowers in the unit. Mobile phones can also provide distractions in the unit so are requested to be turned off before entering the unit.

Limited emergency accommodation is available onsite at the hospital for those relatives of Intensive Care patients who require it; this room is subject to availability and may incur a small fee. The Nurse in charge of the Unit will be able to assist you with accessing this service. The ICU social worker is also very helpful in finding longer term accommodation for those family members that have travelled to the Tweed shire to visit their critically ill loved one.

Other Hospital Services

-          ATM

-          Public phones

-          Parking

-          Hospital patient liaison

-          Hospital shop and canteen

How To Get To Tweed Hospital

A map of the hospitals’ location is below. A more detailed map can be found at the Whereis Online WebSite. The Intensive care unit can be found on the first floor by following the signs to the Critical Care Unit.