[HSF] ratio of ICU beds to cases

[Ani Anyanwu]

I have worked in hospital in UK where selected patients did not go to ICU - they spent about 4 to 6 hours in the OR recovery area and then went to a monitored bed in the general floor thereafter. Obviously these were selected low-risk cases. I have also seen models where the first case for the day (also selected low risk) vacated the ICU bed later that afternoon to make room for another patient. Obviously occasionally this "fast-tracking" will fail so the ICU has to have the capacity to absorb the occasional failure.

Ani
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jbflegejr at aol.com<mailto:Jbflegejr at aol.com> 
  To: OpenHeart-L at lists.hsforum.com<mailto:OpenHeart-L at lists.hsforum.com> 
  Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:24 PM
  Subject: Re: [HSF] ratio of ICU beds to cases


  We do not cancel cases when an ICU bed is not available; the nurses just  
  scrounge around to find some place to put the "least sick patient". Personally I  
  abhor this practice and think that the surgeon who pushes on in this 
  situation  is derelict in his duty. How many ICU beds are needed for any given unit 
  depends  on several factors, a major one being the level of nursing care at the 
  next  levels such as "stepdown" and "floor" or "ward". Theoretically, many 
  patients  could go from the operating room directly to a properly staffed ward 
  which I  have never seen in this country (USA). John Flege



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