Permanent visual display exhibits. A supplementary instructional technique in critical care education.

The discipline of critical care is being challenged to provide ongoing education to the various groups of critical care health providers. Traditional modalities of instruction may not suffice as unique circumstances exist in the practice and daily delivery of patient care. These unique circumstances include a never-ending introduction of new devices, tubes, and catheters into practice. In addition, the intensive care setting features a wide variability of work experience, a high turnover rate of personnel, variable cognitive approaches to understanding technical devices, and a stressful workplace. In their surgical intensive care unit, the authors have developed a set of permanent visual display exhibits. These exhibits were designed to specifically address the above problems and serve as a supplementary mode of education for our diverse medical, nursing, and technical staff. The exhibits may provide an example for other intensive care units and educators.