They say that in the world of the intensive care unit (ICU), there is no night. It can be qualified as a lesser day, but not really as a night. The hustle and bustle may be slower, patient flow and activity may be less, conversations may be negligible, and the staff on duty may be limited, but patient care continues, alarms are in place, and the usual “rhythm” of intensive care remains.

You can still hear the beeping of medical equipment and see light emit through flashing monitors.

Nights in the ICU may not always be that eventful, but for the staff on duty, the expectation and alertness that is required remain the same as it would during the day.

It is impossible to know, in the ICU, when things might change, and when a seemingly quiet night dramatically transforms into blaring alarms, footsteps of nurses rushing to the patient, and a frantic search for a senior doctor because of a life-threatening emergency.

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