Rapid Critical Care Training of Nurses in the Surge Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Background: In response to the coronavirus pandemic, New York State mandated that all hospitals double the capacity of their adult intensive care units In this facility, resources were mobilized to increase from 104 to 283 beds.

Objective: To create and implement a 3-hour curriculum to prepare several hundred non-critical care staff nurses to manage critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Methods: Critical care nursing leaders and staff developed and implemented a flexible critical care nursing curriculum tailored to the diverse experience, expertise, and learning needs of non-critical care nursing staff who were being redeployed to critical care units during the surge response to the pandemic.