The ICU Intensive Patient Care Unit should be separate, centrally-located and self-sufficient. It must always offer the possibility of observing all patients directly. Efficient and specially-trained personnel are required, using modern and specialized equipment. From the point of view of the anaesthesiology team, the most important thing is to monitor the patient’s vital signs and have free access to the patient.
The efficient work of anaesthesiology staff is significantly influenced, not only by the equipment of the anaesthesiology and intensive care unit, but also by the technology and workflow in the operating room. These divisions are closely related to each other. Therefore, good communication should be ensured with the operating block, emergency department, and all bed wards.
According to the current guidelines, the entrance to the Intensive Care Unit should lead through the lock for transporting the patient [more: ALVO Transpa].
Additionally, there may be a scrubbing area here – a staff preparation room [more: surgical scrub stations]. It is also required to install at least one isolation room available directly from the ward.
In ICU departments, storage facilities (for equipment and apparatus) , as well as social and administrative rooms, should be arranged. Nursing supervision stations should enable monitoring of all treatment stations – visually or with the use of cameras. Observation and documentation of the patient’s condition can be improved by special nursing counters [more: Nurses stations].
If the facility has sufficient space, it is worth designing a patient preparation room in the immediate vicinity of the operating room. This solution improves the organization of the treatment plan.
