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Critical Care Nursing

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Nurses who choose to specialize in Critical Care can pursue positions in several areas of our hospital.

Trauma

We are the only freestanding Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in Los Angeles County approved by the County Department of Health Services and accredited by the American College of Surgeons. Children's Hospital Los Angeles treats more than 1,100 pediatric trauma patients per year.

Emergency Department

Our Emergency Department manages more than 25 percent of all pediatric emergency cases in Los Angeles County, with 66,000 visits per year.

Child Abuse and Neglect

The Audrey Hepburn CARES team provides comprehensive medical and mental health services to children in who are suspected victims of child maltreatment, including sexual and physical abuse, neglect and HIV infection.

Intensive Care


PICU Wins 09-10 Beacon Award
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
The 24-bed Pediatric ICU is designated a Beacon Unit by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and provides care for trauma cases, critical medical cases and post-operative surgical patients from all subspecialties.

Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit
The 24-bed Cardiothoracic ICU is the only dedicated, separately-staffed pediatric CTICU on the West Coast. 

Together, these units provide 48 pediatric critical care beds, more than at any other hospital in the western United States.

Neonatal and Infant Critical Care

The 58-bed Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit provides innovative therapies for critically ill newborns and extremely low birthweight infants requiring Level III neonatal care, transferred from other hospitals throughout Southern California and around the world. In addition to providing ECMO, the tertiary care provided, includes nitric oxide and high frequency ventilation.

ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation)

Our hospital has one of the most active and productive Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) programs in the United States, providing long-term cardiac and/or pulmonary bypass support for infants and children who are in life-threatening cardiac or cardio-respiratory failure in the Pediatric ICU, the Cardiothoracic ICU and Center for Newborn and Infant Critical Care.