520
Detailed Needs and Requirements: Intensive Care Units
523
INTENSIVE CARE UNITS
523.1
USER NEEDS
Intensive care units (I.C.U.'s) currently treat between 2% and 10% of all
hospitalized patients. Units are organized around a medical specialty,
(such as a medical unit or a surgical unit), or on a body systems basis
(such as cardiac care or respiratory care). Many user needs for these
units are similar to those of the general nursing unit. The following
highlights those needs, which are characteristics of I.C.U.'s.
523.1.1
Objectives
The intensive care unit was developed to treat patients who are in a
critical life state in an effective and an efficient manner.
523.1.2
Operational
The relationship between an I.C.U. unit and other hospital functional units
is determined primarily by a desire to optimize patient care and to
efficiently use available resources.
There are a number of major determinants affecting the location of
intensive care units.
1. Intensive care units should be located such that personnel from
various hospital locations can assemble at a patient's bedside in the
shortest possible time. This implies a location adjacent to major
vertical and horizontal circulation systems.
2. Units should be located to maximize physical continuity of care. Thus
a cardiac unit located next to a medical GM & S cardiac unit would
facilitate post-intensive follow-up and insure the availability of the
physician in an emergency.
3. Intensive care units are often located to facilitate consultation by
various specialists. Many patients in an intensive care unit will have a
disability affecting more than one of the basic body systems. Thus
consultation between specialists is frequent. If the intensive care unit
is adjacent to units served by specialists in other disciplines, both
formal consultation and informal interaction are apt to occur more
frequently. The interrelation of specialty and intensive care units
provides the desired proximity of medical specialists.
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