critical care
noun
1
: the monitoring and treatment of critically ill or injured patients : intensive care
Critical care involves the use of life-sustaining, high-technology medicine catering to a patient population that extends to both extremes of age. In adult ICUs, the average age is increasing and is now commonly well over 60 years.—
Simon Finfer and Jean-Louis Vincent
Simon Finfer and Jean-Louis Vincent2
: a designated area of a hospital providing critical care : intensive care unit
The death toll rose from six to at least 12, with scores of people needing hospital treatment and some in critical care.—Heather Brooke
—often hyphenated when used before another nounHeather Brookecritical-care nursing
a critical-care bed
see also critical care unit
Examples of critical care in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and medical staff are providing critical care inside makeshift tents.
—Jade Walker, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
Since the near-total ban went into effect, several women in the state have shared stories and filed lawsuits, saying that they were denied critical care while experiencing pregnancy complications.
—Chantelle Lee, Time, 28 Mar. 2025
The children’s mother remains in critical care along with a child who was a friend of the family.
—Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 19 Feb. 2025
On social media, people who identified themselves as critical care nurses say their intensive care units are packed with sick flu patients who’ve progressed to pneumonia and respiratory failure.
—Brenda Goodman and Neha Mukherjee, CNN, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
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Jade Walker, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
Since the near-total ban went into effect, several women in the state have shared stories and filed lawsuits, saying that they were denied critical care while experiencing pregnancy complications.
—Chantelle Lee, Time, 28 Mar. 2025
The children’s mother remains in critical care along with a child who was a friend of the family.
—Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 19 Feb. 2025
On social media, people who identified themselves as critical care nurses say their intensive care units are packed with sick flu patients who’ve progressed to pneumonia and respiratory failure.
—Brenda Goodman and Neha Mukherjee, CNN, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
Cite this Entry
“Critical care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critical%20care. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
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