Background: The Emergency Room departments and the Intensive Care Units (ICU) remain the main locations for the treatment of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. Nevertheless, health-care systems may have limited resources and insufficient ICU beds for attending patients who might benefit from more intensive monitoring than in a general ward. In this context, [...]

Background: Currently, patients admitted to the hospital are assigned specific levels of care such as intermediate intensive care or acute care. Differences among care at these levels largely differ through nursing ratio as well as frequency of nursing assessment. Costs per day for patients at different levels of care differ significantly as well. Little is [...]

Background: Tracheostomies are commonly performed on critically ill patients requiring prolonged respiratory support. Managing them in intermediate care units (IMCU) presents challenges, as complications such as tube displacement, infection, and airway obstruction can pose significant risks. Structured safety protocols like checklists have been successfully used in other high-risk healthcare settings to mitigate these risks. Thomassen [...]

Background: Stepdown units were introduced to provide an alternative for patients with needs not met by a general ward unit but did not require an intensive care unit. Current research indicates that these beds promote greater flexibility in patient triage, increase accessibility to limited intensive care resources, and provide a cost-effective alternative for patients. The [...]