Intensive care units (ICUs) have become an increasingly important part of the American health care delivery system. In 2000, critical care cost $55.5 billion—13.3 percent of total hospital costs and half a percent of the United States’ gross domestic product. As the population continues to age and the severity of hospital cases continues to increase, the role of the intensive care in hospital e...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of implementing long-stay beds for patients of low complexity and high dependency in small hospitals on the performance of an emergency referral tertiary hospital. METHODS For this longitudinal study, we identified hospitals in three municipalities of a regional department of health covered by tertiary care that supplied 10 long-stay beds each. Patients were tra...

OBJECTIVE To determine the national distribution of intensive care unit (ICU)/high care (HC) beds and the implications for ICU bed availability in the envisaged national health insurance (NHI) scheme. METHODS A descriptive, non-interventional, observational study design was used. A desk-top audit of all public and private sector ICUs, including ICU/HC beds, in South Africa was undertaken for ...

Background & Aims: Hospitals are the most important centers that provide health services in the country. They have to use scientific and efficient management at all levels for promoting health. Intensive care units (ICU) are one of the most sensitive parts of the hospitals; therefore, paying attention to its efficiency is of particular importance. The purpose of this paper was to estimate the t...

BACKGROUND/AIM To collect data from throughout Turkey in order to facilitate the organization of pediatric intensive care units (PICUs), and to develop short-term immediate action plans and draft long-term strategic plans. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 35 specialists including 17 pediatric critical care (PCC) specialists, 9 PCC fellows in training, and 9 pediatricians working in PICUs eval...

BACKGROUND in recent years, the NHS has been accused of ageism frequently and from many fronts. Previous studies have shown that the number of critical care beds in the UK is inadequate to meet the needs of the population. This study asks whether there is discrimination against older people in access to these critical care beds. METHODOLOGY all sick patients in five hospitals in a South Wales...

Non invasive ventilation (NIV) has been shown to be an effective therapy in selected patients with acute respiratory failure. Due to its benefit and relative ease of use, NIV is frequently used. In addition, the shortage and high cost of intensive care beds have prompted the use of NIV outside the intensive care unit. Choosing the right time and type of patient with acute respiratory failure to...

OBJECTIVES To identify the resources related to the care of critically ill patients in Spain, which are available in the units dependent of the Services of Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) or other services/specialties, analyzing their distribution according to characteristics of the hospitals and by autonomous communities. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Spanish hospitals. P...

0147-9563/99/$8.00 + 0 2/1/101055 The limited number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and the demand for these beds often forces patients to be discharged earlier than is clinically indicated. Consequently, some patients are discharged from the ICU with significant health care needs requiring skilled management by health care practitioners on the general wards. Without adequate resources on th...

A working party of the BPA has published a report on the facilities, organisation, and staffing for intensive care of children outside the neonatal period. The working party identified 22 paediatric intensive care units in the United Kingdom. In almost all of them medical care and junior staff were provided by paediatricians. Of the consultants in overall charge with responsibility for ventilat...