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
Babies receiving critical care in Gaza risk becoming much sicker or even dying in the coming days as the enclave runs out of fuel and hospitals are forced to turn off incubators, doctors warn.
—Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 11 July 2025
The critical care recruitment and retention stipends were put in place in 2018 and during the COVID pandemic in response to nurse and staff shortages in critical areas, according to Michael Kirk, spokesman for UConn Health.
—Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 28 June 2025
These solutions help clinicians manage critical care and reduce complications.
—Joe Cornell, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025
Georgia's law has led to stories of women in medical peril as doctors try to toe a line between following the letter of the law and delivering critical care.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
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Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 11 July 2025
The critical care recruitment and retention stipends were put in place in 2018 and during the COVID pandemic in response to nurse and staff shortages in critical areas, according to Michael Kirk, spokesman for UConn Health.
—Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 28 June 2025
These solutions help clinicians manage critical care and reduce complications.
—Joe Cornell, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025
Georgia's law has led to stories of women in medical peril as doctors try to toe a line between following the letter of the law and delivering critical care.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 15 May 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 23 Jul. 2025.
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