unidad de cuidados intensivos
/unidad de kwidados intensibos/from spelling rulesfeminine
The English phrase intensive care unit is unidad de cuidados intensivos in Spanish.
The term refers to a hospital ward for critically ill patients. You can use the acronym UCI in medical contexts to refer to the unit.
Meaning: hospital ward for critically ill patients (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is built from unidad (unit), de (of), cuidados (cares/care) and intensivos (intensive).
How does it change in a sentence?
Because unidad is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine article la when referring to the unit, as in la unidad de cuidados intensivos.
Did you know?
- Medical professionals in Spain often use the phrase está en la UCI as a euphemism to tell families a patient is in grave danger without saying 'dying'.
- In some Latin American countries, doctors might use the term reanimación to refer to areas similar to an ICU, depending on the specific medical level.
- The term cuidados is used here in the plural, which is common in Spanish for professional services, unlike the singular 'care' in English.
Examples in context
- El paciente fue trasladado a la unidad de cuidados intensivos después de la cirugía.The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit after surgery.
- Ayer visité a mi amigo en la sala de cuidados intensivos y me alegra verlo mejorando.Yesterday I visited my friend in the intensive care unit and I'm glad to see him improving.
- Ella está en la unidad de cuidados intensivos.She is in the intensive care unit.
- El paciente fue trasladado a la unidad de cuidados intensivos.The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit.
- Necesitamos una cama en la unidad de cuidados intensivos.We need a bed in the intensive care unit.
Example conversation
Mateo and Sofía are at the hospital information desk.
- MateoHola, ¿dónde está la unidad de cuidados intensivos?Hello, where is the intensive care unit?
- SofíaEstá al final del pasillo a la derecha, Mateo.It is at the end of the hall to the right, Mateo.
- MateoMuchas gracias por tu ayuda, Sofía.Thank you very much for your help, Sofía.
- SofíaDe nada, espero que todo salga bien.You're welcome, I hope everything goes well.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “intensive care unit” translations and entries unidad de cuidados intensivos, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
