The power of community: A look into intensive care nursing

Our professional advisory groups bring specialists together, to share expertise and champion their field. Graham Brant and Michaela Jones talk about their experiences of the Nursing Professional Advisory Group (NPAG), what they love about intensive care nursing, and how they’re helping to shape the future of UK practice.

What makes ICU nursing special

Intensive care nursing is distinct from nursing in other settings. Collaborative, holistic and challenging, intensive care units give nurses the opportunity to deliver focused, one-to-one or one-to-two patient care.  

“I immediately loved working in ICU,” says Graham. “Spending time with one or two patients all the time, learning about them, about their families, making sure they get the best care they can possibly have – and having the time to be able to do that.”

But it was also the distinct, collaborative MDT culture that appealed to both him and Michaela, and inspired them to build careers in the field. “I loved the flatter hierarchy and really feeling valued,” explains Michaela. “My skills genuinely mattered and my opinions were heard. I just loved the intellect of it – the physiology, the pathophysiology, the pharmacology, the technology. I loved the attention to detail, the complexity, the precision. For me, working in ICU was the whole package.”

Being part of the intensive care community – and the camaraderie that brings – is also something they both value. As Michaela shares: “I think most of us working in intensive care nursing would say that someone who starts as an ICU colleague can often become a friend for life.”

Collaboration at every level

While UK critical care nursing can bring fulfilling and varied career routes, it is under sustained strain, and several challenges now shape both day-to-day practice and long-term sustainability. These challenges include: workforce shortages and retention pressures, reduced capacity for staff development; inconsistent access to the ICU course, CPD funding and protected time for training; high emotional load and burnout; system-wide flow pressures, role ambiguity across support staff; and persistent funding constraints.
 

NPAG works to address challenges like these, and uses its wealth of collective expertise to shape and advance care. It’s a diverse team, with a shared purpose to drive and improve patient care and staff experience. And to achieve that, collaboration is key – with colleagues both within the ICS and from organisations across the UK. 

As a discipline, critical care is relatively small, and this makes it easier to connect and collaborate with professionals right across the four nations. For the nursing group, that might be developing training, education, policies or guidance with partners such as the Critical Care National Network Nurse Leads Forum (CC3N), British Association of Critical Care Nurses, National Outreach Forum and the Royal College of Nursing. This helps to prevent work being duplicated, share best practice and improve care for patients and nurses.

This collaborative approach also applies to working alongside colleagues from other disciplines, and is mirrored in the series of ICS workshops and education days planned for the next year. The training, which will include profession-led webinars, will bring together the Society’s rich, professional community, enabling different disciplines to learn together. “We don't want to be working in silos,” shares Michaela. “We want to share best practice widely, make sure we’re not duplicating work. The training we offer really is about education for all.

Open doors and unexpected opportunities

As well as championing and supporting critical care nurses, being part of the advisory group can bring unexpected professional opportunities.

For Michaela, that’s included attending the Houses of Parliament in 2023, as part of an All-party Parliamentary Group (now concluded), which was raising the concerns of critical care nursing and the challenges of the wider intensive care workforce. And in 2025, she was a member of the editorial board for the Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services, both opportunities she could “never have imagined” early on in her career. “I’ve grown so much and been pushed out of my comfort zone,” she reflects. “NPAG has put me in a very privileged position.”

Graham recalls sitting on the panel of chairs at last year’s State of the Art Congress. “I sat on a stage in front of a thousand people last year – with doctors, nurses, AHPs. That’s something I’d never normally do. And along with fellow NPAG members, Michaela and I worked with Professor Alison Leary, to produce a podcast on workforce issues.”

Graham, as the current chair, sits on the ICS council, and Michaela, as previous chair, also sat on the council, providing nursing leadership. And externally, Graham represents the Society at different national meetings – such as the United Kingdom Critical Care Nursing Alliance and the Critical Care Leadership Forum – helping support workforce development, education, standards and the professional voice of ICU nurses.

Curiosity, passion and a willingness to contribute

The nursing advisory group is diverse, with members including a research professor, clinical educator, matron, senior university lecturer, ICUsteps trustee, postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institute for Health and Care Research, critical care director, and a network lead nurse and manager.

There’s a huge richness to having such varied voices. As Graham says: “We have a real selection of skilled people that bring different views. And now we’d love to see more frontline staff coming forward, who are dealing with the real issues, every day.”

Michaela agrees: “I’d wholeheartedly encourage people to get involved in NPAG. You don’t need to be in a particular leadership role or band. You just need to be passionate about intensive care nursing, and be willing to contribute. And then when you’re in that position, you have a responsibility to stand up, to speak up and to use your voice. There are opportunities to be involved in so many things, and you don’t know where that will take you.”

Use your voice

The next PAG elections are on 1 May 2026. As a member of the nursing advisory group, you'll help to shape the direction of intensive care nursing, raising the voice of frontline nurses, to influence practice at a national level.

Michaela says: “If you care about intensive care nursing, and you want your voice to matter, then being a member of the NPAG is the best place to start.”

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Graham worked in critical care for over thirty years including as Network Manager and Lead Nurse for the South West of England Adult Critical Care Network. Recently retired, he is Chair of NPAG.

Interested in standing for election? Learn more about the elections on 1 May 2026, including how to vote. All members are eligible to stand for election.

Or find out more about the nursing advisory group.

Not yet an ICS member? Find out about the education, events, support, opportunities and networks you can become part of.