Mastering Intensive Care
A podcast for intensive care clinicians, focused on inspiring them to deliver the highest quality care to critically ill patients. Host Andrew Davies explores professional development, clinical excellence, and personal growth in the demanding field of intensive care medicine. The show aims to help ICU practitioners reach their full potential.
Episodes
100 - Claire Davies - The Art of Compassionate Witnessing
In this, the 100th episode, I am joined by my wife, Claire Davies, a person who has quietly shaped Mastering Intensive Care from the very beginning. Claire's career has evolved from bedside intensive care nursing to ICU liaison nursing, and now to spiritual care, where she works as both a practitioner and educator. This is not a conversation about religion or faith. Rather, it explores what spirit
What Happened After Run Larapinta – Mastering Intensive Challenges Recap (Episode 10)
From finish-line highs to injury, doubt, and rebuilding. Over two years ago, Run Larapinta ended in triumph. But the months that followed brought injury, uncertainty, and a slow road back to running. In this episode, I reconnect with fellow intensivist Ed Litton to reflect on what really happened after we crossed the finish line. The original Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta series,
98 - Forbes McGain - Every decision has a footprint
The guest on this episode is Dr Forbes McGain, who speaks about what sustainability really means in healthcare, and why it's inseparable from good medicine. Drawing on his clinical work, research, and experience during COVID-19, Forbes explores how everyday ICU decisions carry environmental consequences, how "less is more" can benefit both patients and the planet, and how sustainability can align
97 - Nhi Nguyen - From refugee to purposeful leadership in Intensive Care
The guest on this episode is Dr Nhi Nguyen, who as a six-year-old escaped Vietnam by boat. Today, she is an intensivist, a healthcare leader, and a voice for purpose and compassion in medicine. Dr Nhi Nguyen is the Clinical Director of Intensive Care NSW and served as the state's ICU Clinical Advisor during the COVID-19 response. She is closely involved in the Single Digital Patient Record program
96 - Rob Mac Sweeney - The man behind Critical Care Reviews
The guest on this episode is Professor Rob Mac Sweeney, who founded and leads the hugely valuable organisation Critical Care Reviews. Rob is a Consultant Intensivist at the Royal Victoria Hospital and an Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Rob founded Critical Care Reviews back in 2008 and this has grown to now be holding two meetings a year where the
95 - Rinaldo Bellomo - A Tribute
This episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 3 (from 2017) featuring the late Professor Rinaldo Bellomo, who unexpectedly died in May 2025. There is also a personal tribute from me. Andrew Davies
94 - Michael Clifford - A paediatric intensivist willing to talk about his mental health
In this episode, you'll hear from a wise and thoughtful paediatric intensivist. Michael Clifford is a Paediatric Intensivist and Anaesthetist from the Royal Children's Hospital and Monash Childrens Hospital, Melbourne. Mike has recently finished his term as a CICM Examiner for both the Paediatric Fellowship and the CICM Primary exams. He is a keen teacher with a passion for the basic sciences and
93 - Jeram Hyde - Teaching non-technical skills
My guest in this episode is Dr Jeram Hyde, an intensivist in Newcastle with a special interest in teaching non-technical skills. Jeram is the force behind an annual Trainee Education Day, run by the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, and which I attended this year. Jeram has been building this meeting over recent years from a single ICU's annual meeting to educate their trainees on non-clinical to
92 - Emily Amos - From burnout to educating doctors on mindfulness and wellbeing
My guest in this episode is Dr Emily Amos, a general practitioner and a passionate educator on mindfulness in Melbourne. Emily might not be an intensivist but she is a doctor with a powerful burnout story that led to her becoming an enthusiastic guide and teacher about mindfulness and self care. Emily has roles as a GP, a surgical assistant, a lactation consultant, a yoga teacher, a university tut
91 - Peter Brindley - Clinical leadership, podcasting and identifying when patients are dying
My guest in this episode is Dr Peter Brindley, an intensivist in Edmonton, Canada. Peter is a tenured full Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesiology, and Medical Ethics, with over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, over 30 book chapters, and over 100 other articles, including regular opinion pieces for the British Medical Journal. He has written one book and co-hosts a podcast (The Critical
90 - Andrew Holt - Dealing with a progressive condition towards the end of a long & supportive career
Mastering Intensive Care is back after a long hiatus between episodes, and a fun divergence into a series about at athletic adventure. This episode features Dr Andrew Holt, a highly experienced intensivist at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, who was one of the mentors who significantly shaped my career. You'll discover why Andrew was pivotal in my journey, what he sees as the key aspects of a
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 9
Thank you for listening to the ninth and final episode of the Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta series. If you've listened to the series, you'll know my friend Ed Litton and I entered a four-day stage trail running event, the Run Larapinta Stage Race, and ran, climbed, descended, scrambled and walked with 200 other enthusiastic participants along a mountainous and rugged trail in the
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 8
This is the 8th episode of the "Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta" series and if you've been listening to the previous ones, you'll know that this episode is coming out after the four day stage race that fellow intensivist Ed Litton and I set ourselves the challenge of running many months ago. Two Intensive Care doctors, both novices at trail running, looking for something moderately
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 7
Fellow intensivist Ed Litton and I signed up for a big challenge 10 months ago when we registered to run in the Run Larapinta, a 4-day stage race in central Australia. We've both completed many endurance events, however neither of us have done any serious trail running nor have we ever run 130km in 4 days on a rocky and mountainous trail like the beautiful Larapinta trail in the Northern Territory
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 6
To help Ed Litton and I get really prepared for the Run Larapinta stage race we are only a few weeks away from competing in, today we bring a seasoned ultra trail running doctor on to the podcast to share her advice. In this sixth episode of the Mastering Intensive Challenges series, we welcome Dr Cheryl Martin, who is an Emergency Medicine specialist, a podcaster and has huge experience in trail
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 5
This is the fifth episode in the Mastering Intensive Care - Run Larapinta series. Ed Litton and I are back on opposite sides of Australia, and neither of us has had the perfect three weeks since we last chatted. There are now less than seven weeks until the event starts, so we chat about our training, then swing over to what we are each thinking about the logistical challenges we will be presented
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 4
Here is another episode in the Mastering Intensive Care - Run Larapinta series. For this one, I travelled to Perth to meet with my Run Larapinta co-participant Ed Litton and to head out for a few runs together over a three day weekend. We also set up the microphones to update each other with our preparations and to discuss our perspectives on the social aspects of exercise, mainly endurance sport.
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 3
This is a follow on episode as Ed Litton and I continue our discussion about the Run Larapinta Stage Race we will be participating in soon. Ed and I tell each other how our running training is going. Then we talk about our general views on nutrition and sleep, especially as we lead into a multi-day endurance event. One of us has picked up a little niggle. And each of us has a different approach to
82 - Will Bonavia - An ICU trainee's perspective on learning, culture and wellbeing
This episode features the wise perspectives of an Advanced Trainee in Intensive Care Medicine, Dr William Bonavia. The discussion covers: Why he chose medicine and Intensive Care His training journey and his learning strategy What makes a good ward round Learning from colleagues The principles of good communication and collaboration The value of work being fun Making mistakes Dealing with the pre
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 2
In this second of a different style episode, Ed Litton and I continue our discussion about the Run Larapinta Stage Race we will be embarking on in August 2023. Ed and I talk about our preparation and then tell each other why we run, and what we get out of it. Ed is a multi-sport endurance athlete whose reasons for getting out in nature are deep and truly inspiring. We hope you'll enjoy hearing th
80 - Tub Worthley - A pioneering "Grand Master" of intensive care
This episode features the memories, experiences and wisdom of Dr Lindsay 'Tub' Worthley, AM. The discussion covers the following: Tub's training to become an intensivist when no specific training existed His experience at a time when Australian ICUs were in their infancy The difference between the beginning and the end of his clinical career His eventual transition to retirement His writing of te
Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta - Episode 1
We are trying something different on Mastering Intensive Care. My friend and fellow intensivist Ed Litton has cajoled me into joining him in a running event. We will be running the Run Larapinta Stage Race in August 2023. In this episode, we commence a mini-series discussing our lead up to the event. Ed and I have different backgrounds as amateur endurance event participants, and in this episode,
78 - Chris Nickson - Modern & innovative clinician education
This episode features the thoughts and perspectives of A/Prof Chris Nickson. The topics covered include: How Chris became an intensivist and then an educator How he began working on Life In The Fast Lane (LITFL) The network of Clinical Educators he leads and the "Incubator" program Simulation and debriefing The current place of FOAM and podcasts in education What he tries to achieve on his ward r
77 - Recovering from the pandemic
Mastering Intensive Care is returning from being offline for a full 12 months. In this episode, I ask you to ponder, "how are you going?" after the lengthy pandemic, which has lulled after the worst of the storm but has not yet settled into a state of calm. Whilst few intensive care clinicians have actively diminished what we've been through over the last few years, the relentless world of Intensi
Persevering Through A Pandemic - 6 - Learnings We Might Take Away
This episode focuses on learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. Important lessons our global Intensive Care community, your local ICU and you personally might take away from what the novel coronavirus has caused - at least so far. Previous episodes of this series (a series best listened to in episode order) have allowed you to hear the experiences of busy ICU clinicians, the work of an ICU clinical
Persevering Through A Pandemic - 5 - 'Life' Support For Our People
Intensive Care clinicians are used to being busy. Critically ill patients constantly arrive in the ICU with no awareness of staff workload at that moment. So being busy has not been the major problem of the COVID-19 pandemic. The difficult emotional responses to physical exhaustion, mental strain, heart-breaking human loss and the unpredictability of SARS-CoV-2 have been significant, and the commo
Persevering Through A Pandemic - 4 - Best & Worst Year
The physical, mental and emotional burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on Intensive Care clinicians has been colossal. Many ICU staff, of all types and at all levels, have suffered significant psychological effects. After hearing the pandemic experiences and perspectives of bedside clinicians in recent episodes, the focus of today's episode is a clinical psychologist who's been working inside several
Persevering Through A Pandemic - 3 - Ultramarathon
Whilst some people choose to run long distances, caring for patients in the ICU is not supposed to feel like an ultramarathon. If you work in the complex, high stress, emotion-generating environment of an ICU, it might sometimes feel like you are the logistics organiser of an ultimate endurance event, but you should hardly feel like you are a competitor. Yet when COVID-19 arrived, the initial spri
Persevering Through A Pandemic - 2 - It Was Inconceivable
Just like a surf beach shore, waves of COVID-19 keep crashing over the world's Intensive Care Units. The waves have been unpredictable and pattern less, ravaging the ICUs and the people that work in them, often inconceivably. In this second episode of the "Persevering Through A Pandemic" series, you'll hear from Intensive Care professionals about the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to affect ICU
Persevering Through A Pandemic - 1 - Sick Of COVID
Are you sick of COVID? How have you coped in this pandemic? And what's it actually felt like to live and work throughout this last two years? Concerned for the wellbeing of healthcare professionals in the hardest hit ICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic, I interviewed a group of clinicians previously featured on the podcast. With an emphasis on personal wellbeing, I aimed to uncover their feelings,
Persevering Through A Pandemic - Series Trailer
I'm trying something different on Mastering Intensive Care. Welcome to a special series named "Persevering Through A Pandemic". Aghast at the stories I'd heard from Intensive Care colleagues amid large COVID-19 surges I approached several previous podcast guests in countries that had been harder hit than Australia. Concerned for their wellbeing I asked if they'd talk to me about what they'd been g
69 - Emma Ridley - Advocacy, communication and leadership as an ICU dietitian
Mastering Intensive Care is back after a lengthy break with an episode featuring senior ICU dietitian Dr Emma Ridley. Emma is a Senior Research Fellow and a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre (ANZIC-RC) at Monash University in Melbourne, where she leads the Nutrition Program. Emma has 16 years of clinical dietetic experience, including
68 - David Tuxen - Making life and work fun (including ward rounds)
This episode features Professor David Tuxen, a pioneer of Intensive Care in Australia, who recently retired after 38 years at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. David trained in both respiratory and intensive care medicine, and became the Alfred's ICU Director at a young age. He led the development of one of Australia's first mega-ICUs before standing down after over 20 years as Director to re-ener
67 - Rupert Pearse - Responding to the stress and the strain of COVID-19 in the UK
In this episode the focus is on our Intensive Care friends in the UK and what they are going through right now with COVID-19. My guest is Rupert Pearse, a Professor and Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London. He works at the Royal London Hospital, which was at the epicentre of the first wave and now the second COVID wave in East London.
66 - Todd Rice - Learning and teaching how to "not just do something, stand there"
This wide-ranging episode, covering many angles of how we should consider doing less interventions to our patients and more transparent communication to their families, features US intensivist Todd Rice. Dr Todd Rice, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, Tennessee. Todd i
65 - Five valuable lessons COVID-19 taught Intensive Care in 2020
This first podcast episode of 2021 is my attempt to put into perspective at least some of what has happened over the whirlwind of the last 12 months. We can't control what happens to us, yet we can control our actions in response to our circumstances and we can learn from our experience. I feel like the whole experience of COVID has delivered a few important lessons for us as an Intensive Care com
64 - Roger Harris & Oliver Flower - The innovative educationalists behind SMACC and CODA
Two inspiring and innovative educationalists, Dr Roger Harris and Dr Oliver Flower, are featured in this episode. Both of these Sydney intensivists are the force behind the recently created educational initiative named Coda, having previously been two members of the successful triumvirate who set up SMACC (Social Media and Critical Care). To my mind Oliver (or Oli) and Roger have led an educationa
63 - Naomi Pratt - A nurse practitioner's personal and debilitating experience of long COVID
The guest on this episode is Nurse Practitioner Naomi Pratt who describes the lingering and harrowing effects of long COVID. Naomi is a Nurse Practitioner who jointly manages and leads the Critical Care Liaison Nurse service at Peninsula Health. In this role she provides clinical leadership and the Intensive Care response to Medical Emergency Team calls. She has completed post graduate qualificati
62 - Steve Philpot - Communication, tribalism, shared decision making and the value of knowing you already know enough
This episode is a departure from recent conversations about COVID-19 material to cover some very important topics on the human side of what we do in the ICU. My hope is you will glean valuable insights from an intensivist I admire greatly as both an expert practitioner and an esteemed educator of high-level intensive care communication - amongst other things, of course. Dr Steve Philpot is an Inte
61 - A tribute to the global Intensive Care community for your COVID-19 efforts
2020 has been a roller coaster year and I wish to acknowledge my friends of the Intensive Care world for your outstanding and awe-inspiring efforts as clinicians, researchers, educators, digital content creators, and mostly as human beings, compassionately caring for others in a truly unprecedented global crisis. COVID-19 is far from over yet. Massive numbers of cases are still being reported each
60 - Simone Hannah-Clark - Firsthand COVID-19 clinical experience from a New York ICU nurse
In many parts of the world the COVID-19 pandemic is overburdening Intensive Care Units with huge numbers of critically unwell patients, many of whom are dying. Whilst China, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the UK have been crisis-ridden over the last few months, one of the most inundated parts of the world right now is the USA and especially the state of New York. In this episode you will hear t
59 - Steve McGloughlin - Preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this episode focuses on the pandemic planning all ICUs should be doing - if they haven't already been overwhelmed. This week a Working Group of 30 colleagues released the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) COVID-19 Guidelines. This episode features the Chair of that Working Group, A/Prof Steve McGloughlin. Steve is an intensivis
58 - We are all in COVID-19 together
Our need to bring our best selves to work has become more important in the face of this COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe. Many intensive care clinicians are presently overwhelmed by escalating numbers of critically ill COVID-19 patients whilst many others are carefully preparing for seemingly inevitable local outbreaks. There is an eerie feeling where I live and work in Melbourne especially wi
57 - Georg Auzinger - Remembering to keep the patient at the centre of what we do
Those of you who are consultant intensivists or attendings hopefully remember most of your trainees - especially the ones you met when you were a brand new intensivist. In this episode I speak with Dr Georg Auzinger who in 1997 moved from Austria to Australia to train in intensive care at the same ICU I was beginning my first job as a specialist intensivist. I have fond memories of working with Ge
56 - What's in the February 2020 Journals to help you care
In this episode I talk about what's been recently published in the medical literature to help you master intensive care from a humanity point of view. In a departure from the usual interview episode, and as a trial, I searched the December 2019 issues of 8 well-respected journals and found a large number of articles focused on non-technical aspects of intensive care. Not the drugs, devices, proced
55 - Mervyn Singer - Career enjoyment, curiosity and a "can-do" attitude
Anyone who has heard UK intensivist Prof Mervyn Singer speak at an Intensive Care conference will no doubt enjoy listening to him speak on this episode of Mastering Intensive Care. Mervyn Singer is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London in the UK. He was born, bred, trained, and now works in London as an intensivist and a researcher whose career spans from basic mechanis
54 - Research success, end of life care, & clinical leadership pearls (Replay episode with Deborah Cook)
In this episode of the Mastering Intensive Care podcast we replay a previous episode which featured Deborah Cook (broadcast originally as episode 46). Deborah is an intensivist at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton and Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, and Academic Chair of Critical Care at McMaster University. Deborah has received numerous awards for her
53 - A passion to help patients fuelled by his own inpatient experience (Replay episode with Paul Wischmeyer)
In this episode of the Mastering Intensive Care podcast we replay a previous episode which featured Paul Wischmeyer (broadcast originally as episode 35). Paul is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery, the Director of Perioperative Research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and the Co-Director of the Nutrition Support Service at Duke University Hospital in the United States. Paul works ma
52 - Safer healthcare through human factors (Replay episode with Martin Bromiley)
In this episode of the Mastering Intensive Care podcast we replay a previous episode which featured Martin Bromiley (broadcast originally as episode 21). Martin is an airline captain, whose wife Elaine Bromiley sadly died in tragic circumstances, the story of which he describes here and is also documented in the video "Just a routine operation". Martin used his experience in human factors to foun
51 - A Recap of Mastering Intensive Care in 2019
Happy New Year. Thanks for listening to Mastering Intensive Care in 2019. If you reflect on and put into action many of the perspectives shared on this podcast, and if your colleagues do too, I truly believe your ICUs should improve in the care you deliver. That's not to say you don't do well already. It's rather to suggest that the topics we cover on this podcast are not covered well in textbooks
50 - Everybody has a story to tell on Mastering Intensive Care
To celebrate the 50 episode milestone, podcast host and intensivist Andrew Davies (yes that's me) is in the spotlight. Having started the show to learn perspectives that could help me, as well as you, to be better and more human healthcare professionals, I've published 49 episodes with some amazing guests. Based on many of you asking for this, I finally plucked up the courage and switched the micr
49 - Hugh Montgomery - We've got to act right now
Climate change is a conversation we need to be having in Intensive Care circles. Right now. If the environmental catastrophe that is unfolding around us continues unabated there may no longer even be Intensive Care Units. The rising global temperatures, the melting ice, the extreme weather events, and their impact on agricultural crops and human habitation may well lead to such a fall in the econo
48 - Laura Rock - Teaching and learning about communication
Are you a good communicator? Can you identify the skills of optimal communication? Might you sometimes respond to emotion with facts? Communication is perhaps the most important thing we do in healthcare, let alone in life. And to support our patients in understanding their ill health and their healthcare needs requires a high level of human connection for communication to be optimal. So let me i
47 - Matt Morgan - Mixing science, history, emotion and humanity in telling Critical stories
Have you visited any of your past patients or their families in their homes? Would this be difficult? What might you learn? Medicine is mostly a series of stories of people's lives. This is a privilege we often overlook. In Intensive Care we usually only have a glimpse into each life, an almost unrecognisable flash of physical suffering, medical procedure, bedside vigil and hopefully recovery, bu
46 - Deborah Cook - The compassionate and world-leading Canadian granting wishes at end of life
What do you do for your patients around their dying experience? Do you celebrate their lives and support those left behind in grief? Could you bring more humanity to your ICU? Whilst you and your ICU colleagues likely act with kindness much of the time, I suspect listening to this podcast will have you wondering whether you could do better, especially when your patients are receiving end of life
45 - Scott Weingart - Useful mental strategies of a thoughtful ED intensivist and hugely influential podcaster
Today's guest is Scott Weingart, the pioneer podcaster in the intensive care field through his EMCrit podcast. Scott is an ED Intensivist from New York, where he is Chief of the Division of Emergency Critical Care at Stony Brook Hospital and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Stony Brook Medicine. Scott has devoted his career to bringing "Upstairs Care, Downstairs" (ie. bringing ICU care down to
44 - Geoff Toogood - From severe depression to mental health advocacy through #CrazySocks4Docs
To help raise awareness about #CrazySocks4Docs this episode's guest is Dr Geoff Toogood. Geoff is a Cardiologist at Peninsula Health and in Private Practice in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a Board Member of South West Health Care, Ambassador for Beyond Blue and Ambassador for Masters Swimming Victoria. He is both a pool and open water swimmer, having competed at National and International leve
43 - Jo Stewart - Educating, leading, retaining and supporting Intensive Care nurses
On International Nurses Day, please listen to Jo Stewart, the Clinical Nurse Unit Manager at the ICU in which I work - Frankston Hospital. On May 12th, the date that commemorates the birthdate of Florence Nightingale, we celebrate every single one of the many nurses who support and care for us when we are sick. Pretty much everyone on earth comes in contact with a nurse and, for us in intensive ca
42 - Paul Young - Moving on as an ICU family after the death of a respected leader
What it is like when a much loved and respected leader in your Intensive Care suddenly dies? And do you view the people you work with in your ICU as an extended family? Paul Young, an Intensivist from New Zealand, discusses his perspectives on these questions, amongst many other valuable insights, in this important and moving interview. Paul Young is an intensive care specialist at Wellington Ho
41 - Rana Awdish - From In Shock to true connection with our patients
If you work in healthcare and haven't read the book "In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope" I really hope you will. In the meantime listen to intensivist and best-selling author Dr Rana Awdish on this week's episode of Mastering Intensive Care and you'll understand why. In her book, Rana brilliantly tells the real-life story of her near-death experience and s
40 - Ed Litton - Exercise, adventure and excellent clinical care
This week's guest, Australian intensivist Dr Ed Litton, truly amazes and inspires me. Despite having a full-time clinical and research career, and a young family, Ed pursues his passion for adventure mostly through ultra-endurance exercise. Many intensivists run, swim, cycle or do other sorts of vigorous exercise in their spare time. Some even run marathons, swim regularly with a squad or cycle lo
39 - The Best of Mastering Intensive Care in 2018
Happy New Year. Here's hoping 2019 is a great one for you. Mastering Intensive Care is aimed to inspire and empower you, as an intensive care clinician, to bring your best self to the ICU, through conversations with thought-provoking guests. I think there's a gap in education on the topics we cover on this show and hopefully you find my guests useful. During the Christmas/New Year period I listene
38 - June Goh - Leading by creating a family-like department culture (SG-ANZICS special episode)
How well do you know your colleagues? How much do you socialise with them? Do you have an annual retreat for your colleagues and their families? After you listen to this episode you may reflect on these questions. To give your patients the very best care possible it seems obvious that your team needs to know each other, understand the strengths and weaknesses of each other, and combine and commu
37 - Michael O'Leary - Dealing with the frustrations of the changing ICU landscape (SG-ANZICS special episode)
Our ICUs might be growing larger in size but there seem to be the same number of very sick patients to care for overall. All of which means we seem to be admitting a greater proportion of less unwell patients to our ICUs, especially in the larger tertiary ICUs. Given we also suffer from "bed block", where there are no available beds in the hospital to transfer patients to, when they are no longer
36 - Hayley Gershengorn – Allocating ICU resources to optimise patient outcomes and job satisfaction
What number of patients should an intensivist simultaneously care for to optimise outcomes? Is a system with different day and night intensivists best for all? These are two of the questions discussed during the latest episode of Mastering Intensive Care in which Hayley Gershengorn shares her research and personal thoughts about resourcing our Intensive Care Units. There is no easy answer to match
35 - Paul Wischmeyer - Never underestimate the simple things we do to our patients
How did your patient feel that time you took several attempts to place a CVC? What might happen after a dose of haloperidol for delirium? In this compelling episode, Professor Paul Wischmeyer, shares some of his experiences as a patient in the ICU. Since he was 15 he has endured multiple hospitalizations and ICU stays for his inflammatory bowel disease. This has given him an excellent vantage po
34 - Marianne Chapman – Keeping your focus of expertise purposefully narrow
Do you have too many career interests outside of your basic clinical practice? Are your daily focus areas as few as three? Family, clinical and perhaps one other thing? In this episode Australian intensivist, Marianne Chapman, speaks about how she keeps her life under control by focussing on her big three - family, clinical and research. This allows her to manage the stresses of an intensive car
33 - Wes Ely - Finding out what matters to our patients
Do you spend time finding out what the "why" is for your patient? Have you considered it's not what is the matter with the patient but what matters to the patient? What the patient thinks their purpose is? Or at the very least, what they wish for during the next part of life, however short that may be? In this episode American intensivist, Dr Wes Ely, tells us how he deeply cares about the whole p
32 - Kate Harding - Losing Richard - What can we learn from her intensivist husband's shocking death?
What is it like to witness an intensivist struggle? And what can we learn from the shocking death of an intensivist? This special Mastering Intensive Care episode is on a difficult and important topic. Rather than focusing on bringing our best selves to work, the focus of this episode is the ultimate tragedy of our profession, doctor suicide. I warn you that this is a sad and confronting story
31 - Jean-Louis Vincent - The Intensive Care ward round should not be boring
Is your ward round stimulating and educational? Do you help learning by creating debates on the ward round for and against the simple interventions we use? In this week's episode, Belgian intensivist, Professor Jean-Louis Vincent describes what happens in his ICU, on a daily basis, and indeed on the ward rounds. He tells us how he enjoys going several times a day to see what is happening in hi
30 - Francesca Rubulotta - Clinical simplicity, passionate leadership and educational innovation
In this week's episode you'll hear an invigorating conversation with Francesca Rubulotta. This power-packed, enthusiastic, passionate, water polo-playing, Italian doctor, now living and working in London, UK, is seriously ambitious to help patients other than those in her ICU, mostly by advancing education using technological innovation. Francesca is a Consultant and Honorary Senior Clinical Lectu
29 - Claire Davies - Listen to our intensive care nurses
This week is International Nurses Week culminating in International Nurses Day on Saturday May 12th, the date on which Florence Nightingale was born. To celebrate this, my special guest this week is an intensive care nurse, Claire Davies. Claire is my wife. To me, she is intelligent, caring, kind and compassionate, as both a nurse and a person. So after struggling for a while with the choice of wh
28 - Simon Finfer - Querying clinical decisions and maintaining humanity in an intimidating environment
Does each bedside decision you make actually help your patient to feel, function or survive? Have you considered how frightening and intimidating the Intensive Care Unit environment is to your patients and their families? Do you feel empowered by the people you work with and the culture in your ICU? Simon Finfer loves telling a tale. In this episode you'll hear the story of the serendipitous and
27 - John Santamaria - Genuine care for patients both during and after the ICU stay
How well do you understand what happens to your patients after they leave the ICU? Do you find out how they go and feed this back to your ICU team? Most of you give excellent care to your patients whilst they are in the intensive care unit. No doubt this will be compassionate, appropriate, diligent, information-driven, holistic, team-based and communicative care. But when they leave the ICU, do
26 - Peter Kruger - Does anecdotal experience help you provide better intensive care?
How do you balance the use of your clinical experience with the literature-based evidence? Are you a good enough listener? Is the clinical handover in your ICU the best it could be? I've been reflecting on these questions since I talked to A/Prof Peter Kruger for this week's Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Peter is Deputy Director of Intensive Care at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisban
25 - Sarah Yong - Making an excellent start to an intensive care career
What are the biggest challenges when beginning as a fully-fledged intensive care clinician? How do you best use your senior colleagues when your experience bank is still small? What can you do to help achieve gender equity in intensive care medicine? These are some of the questions you'll ponder as you listen to the latest Mastering Intensive Care podcast guest Dr Sarah Yong from Melbourne. Havi
24 - The Best of Mastering Intensive Care in 2017 (Part 2)
A year ago there was no such thing as the Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Now there are 21 separate interviews, each of which have helped me and seem to have helped many of you to make improvements at delivering more compassionate, thoughtful and patient-centred intensive care. Without fail my guests throughout 2017 were excellent and I really enjoyed doing the interviews. And I promise to bring
23 - The Best of Mastering Intensive Care in 2017 (Part 1)
A year ago there was no such thing as the Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Now there are 22 episodes with 21 separate interviews, each of which have helped me and seem to have helped many of you to make improvements at delivering more compassionate, thoughtful and patient-centred intensive care. Without fail my guests throughout 2017 were excellent and I really enjoyed doing the interviews. And I
22 - Felicity Hawker - A true female pioneer of Intensive Care
This week's Mastering Intensive Care podcast features Dr Felicity Hawker who is one of the true female pioneers of Intensive Care in Australia and New Zealand. I had the privilege of working with Felicity for over a decade from when I began as a brand new intensive care consultant over 20 years ago and I came to admire her greatly. Mainly because I witnessed first hand someone who was a master cli
21 - Martin Bromiley - Turning tragedy into safer healthcare with attention to human factors (DasSMACC special episode)
Are we truly making healthcare safer? Do we adequately understand human factors in how we work in hospitals? How would you respond if your partner died from a "routine operation"? These are just 3 of the questions you are likely to ponder as you listen to this interview with Martin Bromiley OBE from the United Kingdom on the Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Whilst many people that we care for i
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