ORGANIZATION OF ICU

(According To IPHS Standards)

PHYSICAL SETUP

General

• Principle - 2 to 5 percent total medical and surgical beds in a hospital should be Critical Care beds. Minimum 4, maximum 12 bed per Critical Care unit.
• Number of beds -5% of the total hospital bed strength.
• ICUs having <6 beds are not cost effective and also do not provide enough clinical experience and exposure to skilled HR of the ICU. At the same time, ICU with bed strength of >24 are difficult to manage.

Location

• In close proximity of emergency and accident department, Operating rooms, trauma ward, diagnostic facilities, blood bank, pharmacy etc. (for Safe, easy, fast transport of a critically sick patient).
• Equipped with central suction and medical gases, uninterrupted electric supply, heating, ventilation, central air conditioning and efficient life services.
• Corridors, lifts & ramps spacious enough to provide easy movement of bed/ trolley.
• There should be single entry/exit point.
• It is required to have emergency exit points in case of emergencies and disaster.

Designing and Space

• 125 to 150 sq ft area per bed in the patient care area or the room of the patient. In addition there should be 100 to 150% extra space to accommodate nursing station, storage, patient movement area, equipment area, doctors and nurses rooms and toilet.
• One or two bigger rooms or area which may be utilized for patients to undergo bedside procedures with support Gadgets attached to them.
• 10% (one to two) rooms or beds may be designated to use exclusively as isolation rooms for cases like for burns, severely infected patients or immune compromised patients. These rooms may have 20% extra space than other rooms.

Facilities

• Nursing Station
• Clean Utility Area
• Equipment Room

Ideal critical Care unit design

HUMAN RESOURCE (Staffing Norms)

The critical care team includes a diverse group of highly trained professionals who provide care in specialized care units and work toward the best outcome possible for seriously ill patients.

All members of the team may be asked to teach patients and their families various strategies to improve health, healing, coping, and well-being specific to their area of expertise.

ICU Team

Members of the team include:

• Nurses
  • Nurse ICU Coordinator who should preferably be trained in intensive care or has five years' experience in intensive care.
  • ICU nurse-patient ratio 1:1 for ventilated cases and 1:2 for other cases.
  • 1:2 to 1:3 nurse patient ratios is acceptable for less seriously sick patients.
• Doctors
• Respiratory Therapists
• Physiotherapist
• Technicians, Computer programmer
• Biomedical Engineer
• Nutritionist
• Clinical Pharmacist
• Support staff-Cleaning staff, guards and Class IV