CICU bedside nursing demands a high level of critical thinking, characterized by proactive clinical judgment and vigilant monitoring for even the slightest changes in patient status. This podcast explores all aspects of pediatric cardiac critical care, focusing on practical bedside application.
Join Nurse Nat, CCRN, CPN, along with expert healthcare professionals, as they lead insightful conversations designed to educate and empower nurses at the bedside. Calling nurses to amplify their voice and foster more nursing-led teaching!
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In the final episode of the CICU Bedside Foundations series, we’re putting it all together with Balancing Qp/Qs.
When caring for patients with single-ventricle physiology, understanding pulmonary and systemic blood flow is about more than memorizing numbers. This episode introduces a practical bedside framework built around five key components:
• Unobstructed systemic output
• Controlled pulmonary blood flow
• Unobstructed pulmonary venous return
• Ventricular function
• AV valve regurgitation
We’ll walk through each component and discuss how these pieces work together to help you interpret your patient’s physiology, recognize changes in circulation, and connect bedside assessment with the bigger picture.
The framework is informed by concepts described in Dr. Francis Fontan’s work on single-ventricle circulation (resource below)
This episode is designed to help you move beyond simply asking, “What’s the Qp/Qs?” and instead ask, “What is driving the balance in this patient—and what is changing?”
🎧 CICU Bedside Foundations
Where pediatric CICU bedside education meets everyday practice with clinical insight.
Resources:
Stern, H.J. Fontan “Ten Commandments” Revisited and Revised. Pediatr Cardiol 31, 1131–1134 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-010-9811-9
11 Sept 2026
Shunt Physiology 03 | CICU Bedside Foundations
In Episode 3 of the CICU Bedside Foundations series, we’re building on cardiac output and single ventricle physiology to talk shunts—and what they mean at the bedside.
Rather than simply memorizing different shunt types, this episode introduces a practical framework for understanding why your patient needs a shunt in the first place, where the blood is flowing, what is driving that flow, and what could cause it to change.
We discuss common shunt pathways, including the BTT shunt, Sano conduit, and the PDA, and connect the anatomy back to the physiology you see at the bedside.
The goal: when you hear, “this patient has a shunt,” you know the next questions to ask.
Because understanding why the shunt is there helps you recognize what your patient needs—and what deterioration might look like—before the numbers tell the whole story.
🎙️ CICU Bedside Foundations
Episode 1: Cardiac Output
Episode 2: Single Ventricle Physiology
Episode 3: Shunt Physiology
Next up: Balancing Qp/Qs
31 Aug 2026
Single Ventricle Physiology 02 | CICU Bedside Foundations
What changes when one ventricle has two workloads?
In the second episode of the CICU Bedside Foundations Series, we break down single ventricle physiology through a practical bedside lens—moving beyond the anatomy to understand where the blood is going, how well the single ventricle is functioning, and what your patient needs from you.
We’ll explore the key questions every bedside nurse should be asking:
❤️ Is my patient currently in a one-ventricle or two-ventricle circulation?
❤️ How well is the single ventricle functioning?
❤️ How much AV valve regurgitation is present, and how is that affecting the workload?
❤️ Is my patient telling me I need to increase pulmonary blood flow, improve systemic blood flow, or increase overall cardiac output?
Because in single ventricle physiology, one pump is supporting two competing circulations. Understanding that relationship helps us move beyond chasing a saturation and start asking the bigger question:
Where does the blood need to go—and does the heart have enough total cardiac output to support both the lungs and the body?
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