ICU / CCU / NICU

CCU stands for Coronary Care Unit, Cardiac Care Unit or Critical Care Unit. It is basically a specialized ICU which is said to be dealing with cardiac patients and is usually staffed by cardiologists. The CCU provides intensive care for the patient who has been admitted because of a heart attack, heart complications or for cardiac surgery. The staff in this unit are trained to care for and monitor patients with various types of heart conditions. While this could be one explanation, another explanation of the CCU is that it takes care of the patients who are comatosed or terminally ill, and are not going to be there for a short period of time.

The structures of both the ICU and CCU are quite similar. Both are designed to limit stress for the patient and provide easy visual access to the staff of the CCU. Visitation in the CCU is restricted to just the family members that too for a very brief period of time in a day. There are devices monitoring the patient that elicit rhythmic beeps and buzzes indicating of normal functioning or differences in the body. Some patients might be on ventilators.