If they knew what it’s like for patients surviving after the ICU, that sedation isn’t sleep, and that they’re being so traumatized and damaged by these normal practices, they would change this.

Picture this: it’s your first shift in the ICU as a new nurse and you walk in, expecting to hear nothing more than the blips and beeps of the machines keeping your silent and sedated patients alive—only to find patients on full mechanical ventilation, fully awake, alert, and taking a stroll with their family member.

No, you didn’t travel to an alternative reality, but it is a reality that supporters of the Awake and Walking ICU movement like Kali Dayton (@daytonicuconsulting), DNP, AGACNP, critical care nurse practitioner, host of the Walking Home From The ICU and Walking You Through The ICU podcasts, and critical care outcomes consultant, are hoping to make a new normal.

Awake and Walking ICUs are exactly what they sound like—they are ICUs where medical staff care for critically ill patients, but they do it in a revolutionary way that focuses on minimizing deep sedation and prioritizing early mobility.

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