A writing group sponsored by the American Heart Association and other organizations discusses trends in critical care and lessons learned from general medical and surgical intensive care units in a Circulation report (pdf).
The report is designed to provide guidance for improving the current cardiac ICU model as demand and technology changes. The writing group examined some trends and best practices in general and surgical ICUs to inform their discussion of cardiac ICUs.
The three major trends in critical care medicine identified in the report include the following:
1. A focus on interventions to optimize patient safety, driven by the recognition that ICU-related complications are a major determinant of outcomes.
2. A shift toward staffing models and structures of ICU coverage that emphasize involvement of intensivists with advanced training and/or experience in critical care.
3. Recognition of the importance of integrated multidisciplinary care with coordinated activities of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers and consultants.
What Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management Looks Like in Action
2 New York Hospitals Partner to Offer New Heart Surgery
The report is designed to provide guidance for improving the current cardiac ICU model as demand and technology changes. The writing group examined some trends and best practices in general and surgical ICUs to inform their discussion of cardiac ICUs.
The three major trends in critical care medicine identified in the report include the following:
1. A focus on interventions to optimize patient safety, driven by the recognition that ICU-related complications are a major determinant of outcomes.
2. A shift toward staffing models and structures of ICU coverage that emphasize involvement of intensivists with advanced training and/or experience in critical care.
3. Recognition of the importance of integrated multidisciplinary care with coordinated activities of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers and consultants.
More Articles on Hospital Cardiology:
Report: Cardiac ICUs Must Address "Critical Care Crisis," Update ICU ModelsWhat Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management Looks Like in Action
2 New York Hospitals Partner to Offer New Heart Surgery