Intensive care unit

An intensive care unit ( common abbreviations: ITS of intensive therapy ward, IPS of intensive care unit, ICU of Intensive Care Unit ) is a hospital ward, intensive care in hospital on patients with serious or life- threatening illnesses or injuries.

Many hospitals in Germany have now made ​​a subdivision of patients according to severity of their disease and stations established that lie in their personnel as technical equipment between intensive care and general ward. Such stations are often referred to as IMC or IC of Intermediate Care.

In many, especially smaller hospitals only an interdisciplinary intensive care unit is present, which is available to all medical fields are available. These ICUs are usually run by anesthetists, who are responsible for the intensive medical therapy, while specialists of the primary relevant specialist area treat the underlying disease. In maximum-care hospitals there are often two ( surgical and non - surgical) or more intensive care units, which are each associated with a specialized field ( anesthesiology, surgery, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, internal medicine, etc.).

Principle

The intensive care unit is different from other units in the hospital through the use of a variety of technical equipment and the use of more staff. In intensive care, each nurse cared for only one to three patients at the same time, while maintaining normal stations on up to twenty patient care by a caregiver. It also more doctors are used, so that a doctor always present or available in no time.

Special knowledge in the operation and function of devices, at the assistant and partial takeover of medical activities and expertise on specific medical conditions are necessary for the nursing work in intensive care units. Caregivers can purchase " / nurses for critical care specialist nurse " the additional qualification "Specialist nurse / nurses in anesthesia and intensive care " or.

Indication for intensive care stay

Basically, patients are treated every age in intensive care when their illness or their condition require particularly intensive monitoring or treatment measures. The advantage of the ITS consists mainly in the possibility of constant monitoring of vital parameters of patients.

An incomplete list of diseases that make such monitoring may be required are heart attack or serious arrhythmia, ARDS, pulmonary embolism, severe asthma attacks, pancreatitis, gastrointestinal bleeding and sepsis. Also, the close monitoring and control of the drug urinary excretion in renal failure indicate an intensive stay. Serious injuries such as trauma or monitoring after operations require as intensive care, such as patients with severe pulmonary edema and severe pneumonia. Also delirious people and those with other serious neurological deficits often have to be supplied there because of the necessary human supervision. In many hospitals, certain therapies (such as cardioversion, thrombolysis ) on patient safety are carried out in the ICU; also this may be the reason for a transfer from other stations.

All patients who, due to their symptoms, provide artificial respiration is required, such as humans after cardiopulmonary resuscitation, are cared for in an ICU, as only here the measure ventilation can be performed.

Accommodation and facilities for intensive care units

Both the spatial design and the features an intensive care unit differs most significantly from conventional hospital wards, to meet the special requirements to the supply of the most seriously ill patients.

Access to an ICU is usually done by a so-called lock to keep the importation of pathogens as low as possible. For the elaborate surveillance and treatment methods, for example 20-25 m² floor space, 16-20 outlets and at least two oxygen connections deemed necessary per patient. For continuous monitoring of ECG, blood pressure, body temperature and often much more vital signs monitors are mounted at each treatment site, in addition usually passed their signals to a central monitoring station and can be observed and evaluated from there. Many of the terms used in intensive care medicine must be administered directly intravenously via electronically controlled drug pumps ( syringe pump ), so that often four to ten such devices are placed beside the patient's bed. In addition, many people are mechanically ventilated, so often willing are also respirators. Some patients also require dialysis; all equipment must be able to be placed in the immediate patient vicinity.