Resuscitation Unit for Adults and Children

Our Team      Photogallery

A brief overview of the Resuscitation Unit for Adults and Children

Our resuscitation unit focuses on complex diagnosis and treatment in patients whose dangerous health conditions are caused by the corruption of their vital functions. Thus, these patients require the maximum level of care.

Our unit consists of the Pediatric Anesthesiology and Resuscitation Unit and the Adult Anesthesiology and Resuscitation Unit. 

How will your detailed schedule look like? What type of procedures, methods or treatment can you observe? Check what can you see by shadowing every member of the mentoring team.

Is this specialty placement ideal for you?

  • Critical health conditions and fast paced work are the everyday reality of this intense shadowing placement for nurses to be. Both, adult and children patients, are frequently in life-threating conditions or after complicated surgeries and they need the support and care of nurses the most. Our care requires the constant presence of our team members, who are ready to provide immediate treatment.

  • If you look for a nursing work internship where you are going to learn and observe a lot, apply. We, as your mentoring team, are responsible for monitoring and securing the vital functions of the patient during surgery, performing inhalation anesthesia either with or without intubation, and also for assisting in postoperative care while monitoring the patient's condition. 

Let's take a closer look at the specialties…

Our center covers 3 branches of medicine. The first specialty is Anesthesiology and the Treatment of Chronical Pain, which is a practice dedicated to pain relief and the total care of the patients before, during, and after surgery. This specialty uses various pharmacological methods or alternative approaches, such as hypnosis, anesthesia, and acupuncture. It is a set of medical procedures that allow us to perform operations, medical performances, and exploratory methods under general or regional anesthesia.

Our nursing team cooperates closely with a team of doctors and takes care of patients who are often in very serious conditions.

The aim of Resuscitation is to provide a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for ill patients, who have severe life threatening health conditions that require the highest possible level of medical care. Patients are constantly monitored and our staff is ready for immediate action if necessary. We are able to perform early recognition of cardiopulmonary arrest and initiate cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) using medicaments, defibrillators, or other special equipment.

The goal of our third specialty, Intensive Care Medicine, is to help patients suffering from life-threatening injuries and illnesses (e.g. complications from surgery, accidents, infections, and severe breathing problems).

Now you can see that our care requires the constant presence of our team members, who are ready to provide immediate treatment. We, as your mentoring team, are responsible for monitoring and securing the vital functions of the patient during surgery, performing inhalation anesthesia either with or without intubation, and also for assisting in postoperative care while monitoring the patient’s condition. Since the anesthetists assist during most surgeries, you will witness a large spectrum of specialized operations within various surgical departments. This includes Neurosurgery, Cardio Surgery, Obstetrics, and other specialties.

Who do we take care of?

As far as Intensive Care Medicine goes, we take care of both adult and young patients after major surgeries, polytrauma, monotrauma, head trauma, lung transplants, and artificial lung ventilations. We also manage patients with invasive monitoring such as hemodynamic monitoring, intracranial pressure monitoring, and more.

Resuscitative care is provided for critically ill patients with failing vital functions, who are in urgent need of medical care.

Anesthesiology and the Treatment of Chronic Pain prevents patients from feeling pain during surgery. We take care of patients who have to undergo various types of operations, medical performances, or exploratory procedures.

Furthermore, we focus on treatment of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, myasthenia gravis, degenerative nerve diseases, and people who have suffered a major head injury or brain injury, and many other patients who are in need of long-term ventilator therapy. These patients require specialized rehabilitation and nutritional support.

Our methods and procedures

Our team uses various methods and procedures, to ensure the satisfaction of our patients:

  • Peripheral nerve blockades for pediatric and adult patients
  • Analgosedation especially for pediatric patients and also for adult patients
  • Sonography for early diagnosis of bleeding in cavities of traumatized patients
  • The latest video laryngoscopic method in cases of difficult intubation, including one-use intubation instruments
  • Combined neuraxial blockades for replacements of major joints (hip, knee)
  • Routine neuromuscular blockade reversal after anesthesia
  • Routine monitoring of cerebral oximetry during surgeries of extracorporeal circulation and the use of deep hypothermia
  • Arterial blood sampling to evaluate the acid-base status

How does the usual schedule look like?

  • Our team works on regular schedule. We work on 12 hour shifts, therefore the work can be exceptionally demanding. You might stay a whole shift with your mentoring team, the days at the Unit are usually very intense. Anyway, 25 hours as a minimum are guaranteed every week.  

Our Team


Photo Jan Šibík

DiS. Alexandra Brabcová

ICU Nurse

Nurse


I appreciate that I can be part of a team that provides professional, high-quality nursing service. The most common reasons for hospitalization are car accidents, septic shock, and various sports accidents, which vary depending on the time of year. When I do my job, I feel fulfilled, satisfied, needed, and useful. I love that I am part of a team that works on saving our patients’ lives, although, sadly, I am also present when some of our patients lose their lives.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

When I was younger, I dreamed of becoming a nurse, wearing a uniform, and treating patients. As my aunt worked as a nurse, I have felt very familiar with the hospital environment since my childhood. Eventually, I decided to become a nurse when I was taking care of family members with oncologic diseases. As a person with no medical background up to that point, I had no experience with treating people and had to learn many things during the process. I decided to learn everything I could by becoming a nurse, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I daresay that our department is one of the best, and working here will allow you to apply and capitalize on your theoretical knowledge. I would be honored to pass all my knowledge and practical skills on to you, make you part of the nursing process, and answer all your questions.

What do I love the most about my specialty?

I have no regrets regarding my choice of specialty. I enjoy coming in contact with a wide range of diagnoses and procedures; attending lectures, seminars, and conferences; and regularly partaking in training – my last training session was focused on ICP monitoring. Our patients are typically rotated among nurses in order to avoid mental exhaustion of the staff. However, a nurse may choose to stay with a particular patient. It isn’t always ideal to get attached to your patient, although it is sometimes inevitable when you spend 12 hours a day with them.

What can you see by shadowing our team?

Every bed (we have 22 in our ward) is equipped with a monitoring device, a ventilator, a suction unit, resuscitation and intubation devices, and a computer that provides electronic documentation. You will observe us while we take care of patients in various conditions – some have suffered from monotrauma or polytrauma; some are recovering after major surgery, such as a lung transplant; and some are undergoing artificial lung ventilation or invasive monitoring, like hemodynamic or intracranial pressure monitoring. You might see arterial blood sampling to evaluate pH balance, blood sampling for metal ion analysis, hemodynamic calculations, intravenous insertion of medicaments, CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound imaging, and assisting with invasive procedures. Our other important tasks include communicating with the patients and their family members, replenishing material, and performing medication control.

Apart from being a healthcare professional…

I enjoy running, squash, self-studying, talking with friends, and travelling.

My motto…

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
- Albert Schweitzer

Photo Jan Šibík

Bc. Marcela Čáková

ARU Nurse

Nurse


Being a nurse in the ARU is more than just providing basic nursing care to a patient. You also have to know how to use medical devices and technical equipment such as a ventilator, injectomat, perfusor, vital-function screen, defibrillator, bronchoscope, and dialysis machines. When I was choosing my specialty, I asked myself a simple question: “In which department would I learn the most?”. And as you know already, ARU was my decision

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

I would like to answer this question with “I always wanted to help people, animals…” But the truth is that as a child even cats were running away from me after a very poor paw bandaging. Some small details persuaded me to fill in an application to Charles University and to become a general nurse. Right now, I am happy with my job and I know that I have chosen correctly. It is truly important to find an area that you like. I worked for 4 years as a ortho-prosthetic technician and that was not the right specialty for me.

You will broaden your knowledge and you will definitely find interesting and motivating things to further your studies.

What do I love the most about my specialty?

Even though ARU is very demanding environment, I enjoy the unusual. Sometimes we take care of hospitalized patients according to the daily program, but mostly we have to deal with unexpected situations. You never know when the emergency phone will ring. Patients are brought to us in life-threating conditions, so one must always be ready to provide 100% immediate care.

What can you see by shadowing our team?

You will spend a part of my 12-hour shift with me and follow me everywhere. I will show you the basic nursing job tasks such as the re-application of bandages, managing decubitus, breathing and motional rehabilitation, as well as patient hygiene in multiple ways, according to the individual case. We provide examinations as well as diagnostic procedures - bronchoscopy, CT, MRI, ultrasound, insertion of invasive inputs, and the preparation and dilution of medicine. You may see various types of medical techniques – ventilators, defibrillators, injectomats, perfusors, and devices for cooling or heating the patient. The hospitalization of a patient includes an income box and also resuscitation and ensuring the main vital functions. Apart from these procedures we must provide CPR for the whole building for adults in the University Hospital in Motol.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

Most of my time I spend with my dear children and husband. . I like playing volleyball, skiing, and dancing Zumba. I also like reading, and relaxing by walking through parks and forests.

My motto…

I don’t like words such as “I can’t”. Every day we can start again from the beginning.


Photo Jan Šibík

Mgr. et Bc. Mariana Grimmerová

Nurse Anesthetist

Nurse


I work at the University Hospital in Motol since 2005 and I am very satisfied. Our field is constantly developing regarding the medical and nursing side together with the technical progress. It improves the quality of the patient care and also makes our work easier. Back then, when I found out that they were looking for a nurse anesthetist in pediatrics, I decided to work and study harder. Luckily, I started to work as one and although these kids are often in a very difficult situation, I love my job.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

There is no healthcare professional in our family but I decided to become on at the age of 15. It seemed to me as an interesting field and I've always been a team player. I enjoy a collective type of work and when I get to know the professional environment during the studies at high school I decided to continue my studies further at university. My first professional experience was also in pediatrics and I remember I liked it a lot. That is why I worked on a part-time basis even during my university studies. From my perspective, it was the best decision. It is better when you don't lose touch with the work environment and its constant development.

Come and join the CHP Program. Our department is an extremely interesting workplace and our healthcare system is on a top level. I think this is a place worth to be.

What do you love the most about your specialty?

I love all. Really. Even though it is sometimes stressful, I like the contact with our patients. What brings me a huge professional satisfaction is the fact that we are able to improve the life of the patients. That makes really a sense to me.

What can a student see by shadowing your team?

You can see the complex care provided to a patient by a nurse anesthetist I work in a team with a doctor anesthesiologist during the whole surgery. Thanks to the specific focus of the University Hospital in Motol on children, you will meet all age groups of patients from premature infants to 18 years old children at our workplace. We will work together on the ORs and neonatal units, too. You will see the preparation of the patient for various types of anesthesia, its administration, monitoring of vital functions, the performance of the surgical procedure and then we will wake the patient up. You may witness easier and harder cases with minor complications as well as the use of the most modern equipment that helps us during the performance of the surgery. I personally think it is an extremely interesting work and a great place for students to learn.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

I love to swim and run. I do orienteering and cross-country running.

My motto…

Stay positive, everything is easier then.

Photo Jan Šibík

Bc. Alena Hyršlová

Nurse Anesthetist

Nurse


After I tried to work outside of the health sector, I realized how important it is to believe in what you are doing and to get satisfaction from doing it. Today I work at the pediatric anaesthesiology center, which is part of the KARIM specialized center for anesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive medicine. In case of an emergency, I also help at the adult anesthesiology center, but I prefer working with children. This is what makes the most sense to me.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

Since I always liked sports and wasn’t attracted to office professions, I applied for a school focused on physiotherapy. Sadly, I wasn’t accepted because there were too many candidates. As an alternative, I decided to choose a nursing school, so I entered a four-year program in medical school. I enjoyed studying very much, but my first work experience at a hospital was mentally challenging for me. It was really hard seeing sick people suffering. Eventually, though, I got used to it and started enjoying my work.

Get the best of both worlds: Prague is a wonderful, historic city and the University Hospital in Motol is one of the best hospitals in the Czech Republic. The pediatric wing underwent huge renovations recently and has a variety of top notch equipment and technologies. The hospital personnel are highly qualified people who enjoy working with students.

What do you love the most about your specialty?

Thanks to the variety of specialties in University Hospital in Motol, the work here is never boring. What suits me about our department is the fact that we often change our place of work, which means that we have to change the doctor/nurse teams almost every day. This process makes the work much less monotonous.

What can a student see by shadowing your team?

During my workday, we can see up to ten consecutive administrations of anesthesia for short surgeries and two or three for longer surgeries. Outside of my work in the anesthesia care team, we can observe the work of surgical nurses. You will see a variety of surgical procedures and diagnostic methods. Anesthesia is performed for the following surgical specialties: urology, proctology, ENT, orthopedics, neurosurgery, maxillofacial surgery and eye surgery. The Specialized Center of Cardiovascular Surgery has its own anesthesiology department. The examination methods include all kinds of endoscopy (e.g. gastroscopy, colonoscopy, and bronchoscopy), as well as imaging methods like magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, x-ray, angiography, and ultrasound. Since we are a university hospital, we are used to teaching medics and interns of all specialties. If you show interest, even the non-mentoring doctors will be glad to answer any of your questions.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

Our family generally enjoys sports, and we choose our vacations accordingly. In the winter, we go skiing in the mountains, while in the summer we like to go swimming and sightseeing. I play volleyball 3 times per week. Both of my adult sons play ice hockey, and I enjoy watching their matches. My husband loves riding his bike, so we go on cycling trips and vacations together. Sometimes we even go canoeing; we like to be outdoors with our friends. I like the cinema and theatre, too.

My motto…

Life is an empty chalice, and it is up to us how we fill it. Any meaningful path can be your purpose!

Photo Jan Šibík

Mgr. Iveta Stoklasová

ARU Nurse

Nurse


Thanks to my specialization I started to work in the first ICU with Resuscitative Care for the patients suffering from Infectious Diseases. I came across various cases like purulent meningitis, meningococcus or sepsis. I applied myself to work with severely ill patients who were entirely dependent on the job of our team with energy and dedication. Most of them were on full ventilatory support, and we used CRRT dialysis in cases of kidney failure. The way how we handled our job was fundamental as the quality of nursing care was one of the criteria necessary for the patient's survival. Many of them were young people, and we were more than happy to see their return back to life. During the upcoming years, I worked on becoming specialized in the resuscitation care and anesthesiology. Together with the head doctor, we opened a resuscitative care department in another hospital, and I began to focus on the admissions and care of patients with trauma and polytrauma with different sets of priorities and specifics. 

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

As a child, I dreamt about becoming a lawyer or archeologist but as I couldn't choose freely what I wanted to study and had a nice relationship towards kids, I tried the entrance exams to nursing school, and I passed. After graduation, I started to work at the Infectious Diseases Department for Adults an Children. The work was so interesting that I never regretted my final choice. After a while a started to work in a department for adults in the area of Septic Shock Management. This work required a higher level of knowledge in the Intensive Care field and the technical equipment, so that was how I was chosen to study the specialty of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care. 

You have an excellent opportunity to give to all you learn in anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology concrete contours. While seeing bronchoscopies, care of invasive inputs and catheters, examinations of the patient and assessing the results of tests and its meaning, you will learn how to use your knowledge in clinical practice. 

What do I love the most about my specialty?

It's easy and complicated at the same time to tell why I love my job. It brings me a lot of positive things, contact with people, the joy when our patients' conditions improve. I like to work with the technical equipment and the knowledge I need to possess on which I work on continually. I enjoy working in shifts, too. What I dislike is the unpleasant treatment me and my colleagues, nurses, are often facing from various kinds of people. Despite the negative, the majority of us stay as we love our adrenalin profession. If the necessity of acting fast arises, I am always pleased that I handled the situation in the best way possible. Last but not least I like to teach others and directly witness how you learn new information and how you use them in practice. Despite the negatives I believe in the importance of the nursing profession, that is why I love my job.

What can you see by shadowing our team?

As a student, you have a chance to be with me on my shift and witness all of the aspects of Resuscitative and Intensive Care at a top-notch ARU unit. You can see all of the nursing tasks including what it takes to assist to a doctor during various types of procedures. You will accompany the patient with me to the OR and assess what kind of equipment does the patient need to undergo the transfer or procedure successfully. You will learn how to work with a ventilated patient including nebulizations, endotracheal tube, and tracheostomy suctioning. You have an excellent opportunity to give to all you learn in anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology concrete contours. While seeing bronchoscopies, care of invasive inputs and catheters, examinations of the patient and assessing the results of tests and its meaning, you will learn how to use your knowledge in clinical practice. Another part of our daily work will be analgosedation, mineral substitution, enteral and parenteral nutrition, chest drainage assistance, enteral tube or nasogastric feeding tube placement, urinary catheters placement, intra-abdominal pressure monitoring and so much more. Once accompanying me to the intake box, you will see the whole process of how we admit into our unit the various cases of trauma, patient during or after Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, embolism and other urgent situations. If there is a patient with a cardiac arrest in the building you might accompany me and see how to handle the situation when CPR is needed including intubation and extubation and so on.

Apart from being a healthcare professional…

I like to go for a walk, doing exercise, reading books and watching movies.

My motto…

Nobody can ever take from you the things and skills you learned.

Photo Jan Šibík

Kateřina Vyskočilová

Staff Nurse including Cardiac Surgery field

Nurse


The last year of the nursing school I got the opportunity to work during my summer holidays in ICU and delivery room as a PCT. I really enjoyed the work there, people were helpful to me and showed me all about the field of intensive care. I had learned a lot of skills and improved my nursing knowledge. It helped me a lot during my graduation. Since then I have decided the only place I want to work in is this one because I enjoyed it so much. I still love the job even 20 years later.

Why did I become a healthcare professional?

I wanted to be a Vet, I loved animals and wanted to work with them. However, when I was supposed to choose my future job, I decided to become a nurse instead because there was not much of Mathematics which I was not very good at. I also liked biology a lot. So the best choice at that time including other factors such as the distance from my home was nursing school. Over the school years, I started to like it very much, and let's say I found myself in it. My favorite subject was anatomy, and I was quite good at it. I am happy I am a nurse, and I still love my job even dough I stopped doing it for a few years and came back to it. 

I have realized over the years by talking to my friends that this job is special and that not so many people can do it. For me, I love the variety and adrenalin it brings. I like the satisfaction and great feeling when someone who is so sick and miraculously survives, comes later and says thank you. It makes the job so meaningful. Moreover, it had opened the door of the world for me. I have managed to work abroad with so many other international nurses, where we could share our skills, experience, and knowledge.

What do you love the most about your specialty?

I have been working as a nurse for 15 years, and I still like my job. I have realized over the years by talking to my friends that this job is special and that not so many people can do it. For me, I love the variety and adrenalin it brings. I like the satisfaction and great feeling when someone who is so sick and miraculously survives, comes later and says thank you. It makes the job so meaningful. Moreover, it had opened the door of the world for me. I have managed to work abroad with so many other international nurses, where we could share our skills, experience, and knowledge. We have got to known each other and shared the differences between our own countries and traveled together. In my opinion, it's a great job how to get to know people and travel; there is always luck of nurses, so you have a job guaranteed.

What can a student see by shadowing your team?

My day varies from the place where I work, depends on the schedule of the OR where I am placed. I usually know the day before where I will be working the next day. We are covering eight central ORs and the analgosedation of patients at the specialized centers such as during MRI, CT and other examinations and procedures. We will go together step by step through the preparations for the surgery. In our specialized center, you can observe different kinds of surgeries starting from the simple and common ones up to the complicated such as organ transplants. When it comes to anesthesia you can see the IV cannulation, administration of blood and blood products, CVC and arterial line insertions, intubation and mechanical ventilation, NGT and Folley catheter insertion, and drug administrations and IV therapy. You can witness the use of anesthesia machine and mechanical ventilation and also the use of ECMO during the cardiac surgeries that I take part in, too.

Apart from being a healthcare professional...

I like scuba diving, traveling, meeting new people from different countries, and reading.

My motto…

Enjoy every day because you never know if it is not your last.

Anesthesia

Anesthesia is a unique intervention, in that it does not offer any particular benefit, rather it allows others to do things that might be beneficial.

Resuscitation

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure for manually preserving brain function until further measures to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.

Photogallery

LOVE WHAT YOU DO WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT