intensive care unit (ICU), and medical residents are essentially needed to operate the ICU. However, the recent trend has been to restrict resident working hours. This restriction may lead to a shortage of ICU staff, and there is a chance that regional academic hospitals will face running ICUs without residents in the near future.METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study (intensivist crossover design) of medical patients who were transferred to two ICUs from general wards between September 2017 and February 2019 at one academic hospital. We compared the ICU outcomes according to the ICU type (ICU with resident management under high-intensity intensivist staffing vs. ICU with direct management by intensivists without residents).RESULTS: Of 314 enrolled patients, 70 were primarily managed by residents, and 244 were directly managed by intensivists. The latter patients showed better ICU mortality (29.9% vs. 42.9%, P = 0.042), lower cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (10.2% vs. 21.4%, P = 0.013), lower continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) (24.2% vs. 40.0%, P = 0.009), and more advanced care planning decisions before death (87.3% vs. 66.7%, P = 0.013) than the former patients. The better ICU mortality (hazard ratio, 1.641; P = 0.035), lower CPR (odds ratio [OR], 2.891; P = 0.009), lower CRRT (OR, 2.602; P = 0.005), and more advanced care planning decisions before death (OR, 4.978; P = 0.007) were also associated with intensivist direct management in the multivariate cox and logistic regression analysis.CONCLUSION: Intensivist direct management might be associated with better ICU outcomes than resident management under the supervision of an intensivist. Further large-scale prospective randomized trials are required to draw a definitive conclusion.]]>
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Critical Care ; Cross-Over Studies ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Internal Medicine ; Internship and Residency ; Logistic Models ; Medical Staff ; Mortality ; Observational Study ; Organization and Administration ; Patients' Rooms ; Prospective Studies ; Renal Replacement Therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Running ; Survival Rate

COVID-19 has spread globally, infecting and killing millions of people worldwide. The use of operating rooms (ORs) and the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) for intensive care is part of surge response planning. We aim to describe and discuss some of the practical considerations involved in a large tertiary hospital in Singapore. Firstly, considerations for setting up a level III intensive care unit (ICU) include that of space, staff, supplies and standards. Secondly, oxygen supply of the entire hospital is a major determinant of the number of ventilators it can support, including those on non-invasive forms of oxygen therapy. Thirdly, air flows due to positive pressure systems within the OR complex need to be addressed. In addition, due to the worldwide shortage of ICU ventilators, the US Food and Drug Administration has granted temporary approval for the use of anaesthesia gas machines for patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Lastly, planning of logistics and staff deployment needs to be carefully considered during a crisis. Although OR and PACU are not designed for long-term care of critically ill patients, they may be adapted for ICU use with careful planning in the current pandemic.
COVID-19/therapy* ; Critical Care/organization & administration* ; Critical Illness ; Health Care Rationing/organization & administration* ; Health Resources/organization & administration* ; Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units/organization & administration* ; Operating Rooms/organization & administration* ; Pandemics ; Respiration, Artificial ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Tertiary Care Centers/organization & administration*

INTRODUCTIONPaediatric poisoning accounts for 1% of daily emergency department presentations. The aim of this study was to review the characteristics and outcomes of paediatric patients who presented with drug overdose over a five-year period.

METHODSWe performed a retrospective review of paediatric poisoning cases at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), the largest children's public hospital in Singapore, from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013.

RESULTSA total of 1,208 cases of poisoning were seen in KKH's Department of Children's Emergency during the study period. The gender distribution was about equal, with a slight male predominance. The majority of the poisoning cases were accidental. Slightly more than half of the intentional ingestions were of paracetamol and the majority were female patients belonging to the 12-16 year age group. The bulk of poisonings occurred in children aged 1-4 via the oral route, slightly more than half of the oral ingestions consisted of oral medications and a sizeable portion were of household liquids. Mothballs and silica gels accounted for almost a quarter of the solid household products ingested. Slightly less than half of the patients required admission and only a small portion of the admitted patients required intensive or high dependency care.

CONCLUSIONThe prognosis of paediatric patients who presented with poisoning in our study was good, with a short median length of stay for those admitted and no fatalities being reported across the span of five years.

Acetaminophen ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Critical Care ; Drug Overdose ; epidemiology ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals, Pediatric ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Poisoning ; epidemiology ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Silicon Dioxide ; Singapore ; epidemiology

INTRODUCTIONThe efficiency of postoperative handover of paediatric patients to the children's intensive care unit (CICU) varies according to institutions, clinical setup and workflow. Reorganisation of handover flow based on findings from observational studies has been shown to improve the efficiency of information transfer. This study aimed to evaluate a new handover process based on recipients' perceptions, focusing on completeness and comprehensiveness of verbal communication, and the usability of a situation, background, assessment and recommendation (SBAR) form.

METHODSThis was a prospective interventional study conducted in the CICU of KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore. It comprised four phases: (1) evaluation of the current handover process through an audit and opinion survey; (2) development of a new handover process based on the opinion survey and hospital personnel feedback; (3) implementation; and (4) evaluation of the new handover process. The new handover process was based on a PETS (pre-handover, equipment handover, timeout and sign out) protocol with a 'single traffic communication' flow and a new SBAR handover document. It included relevant patient information, and the options 'not applicable' and 'none', to increase compliance and reduce ambiguity.

RESULTSSignificantly more recipients indicated that the new SBAR form was the most important handover tool and provided more useful information. Recipients' perceptions indicated improvement in information sufficiency and clarity; reduction of omission errors; and fewer inconsistencies in patient descriptions in the new process.

CONCLUSIONDual customisation of the handover process, PETS protocol and SBAR form is necessary to meet the workflow and information demands of the receiving team.

Anesthesia ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Child ; Critical Care ; methods ; Hospitals, Pediatric ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Medical Errors ; prevention & control ; Nurses ; Observational Studies as Topic ; Patient Handoff ; Pediatrics ; methods ; Postoperative Care ; methods ; Postoperative Period ; Prospective Studies ; Singapore ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The aim of study was to estimate the hand hygiene (HH) compliance of healthcare workers (HCWs) in a children's hospital. METHODS: This study was conducted in a hospital which is a tertiary and educational children's hospital with 313 beds and 533 HCWs. Data were collected by direct observation methods from November 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. RESULTS: A total of 2,999 opportunities for HH were observed, and the overall HH rate was 95.3%. HH rate of the registered nurse, physicians and transferer was 97.7%, 89.2%, and 72.1%, respectively (P<0.001). Among physicians, HH rate of the fellows, professors, residents and interns was 97.5%, 93.9%, 89.7%, and 80.9%, respectively (P<0.001). HH rate in the emergency room, operation room, outpatient department (OPD), and the intensive care unit (ICU) was 97.2%, 97.2%, 95.4%, and 92.5%, respectively (P<0.001). Hand rubbing was the most frequently used (81.1%), and hand washing was frequently used in the case of 'after body fluids exposure risk' (37.7%) and 'after touching patient surroundings' (28.5%). HH methods were not statistically different from each departments (P=0.083), however, they were significantly different according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 5 Moments (P<0.001). Distributions in WHO 5 Moments by the job titles were significantly different (P<0.001). The odds ratio of physicians, ICU and OPD was 0.353 (95% CI, 0.241-0.519), 0.291 (95% CI, 0.174-0.487), and 0.484 (95% CI, 0.281-0.834), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance of HH was different by the job titles and departments. Effective custom-tailored HH programs for each job title and department need to be developed.
Body Fluids ; Compliance* ; Cross Infection ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hand Disinfection ; Hand Hygiene* ; Hand* ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Intensive Care Units ; Odds Ratio ; Outpatients ; Pediatrics ; World Health Organization

Critical (or intensive) care medicine (CCM) is a branch of medicine concerned with the care of patients with potentially reversible life-threatening conditions. Numerous studies have demonstrated that adequate staffing is of crucial importance for patient outcome. Adequate staffing also showed favorable cost-effectiveness in terms of ICU stay, decreased use of resources, and lower re-admission rates. The current status of CCM of our contry is not comparable to that of advanced countries. The global pandemic episodes in the past decade showed that our society is not well prepared for severe illnesses or mass casualty. To improve CCM in Korea, reimbursement of the government must be amended such that referral hospitals can hire sufficient number of qualified intensivists and nurses. For the government to address these urgent issues, public awareness of the role of CCM is also required.
Critical Care/*organization & administration ; *Forecasting ; Intensive Care Units/*organization & administration ; Needs Assessment/*organization & administration ; Republic of Korea

Currently, in the Republic of Korea, despite the very-low-birth rate, the birth rate and number of preterm infants are markedly increasing. Neonatal deaths and major complications mostly occur in premature infants, especially very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBWIs). VLBWIs weigh less than 1,500 g at birth and require intensive treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The operation of the Korean Neonatal Network (KNN) officially started on April 15, 2013, by the Korean Society of Neonatology with support from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The KNN is a national multicenter neonatal network based on a prospective web-based registry for VLBWIs. About 2,000 VLBWIs from 60 participating hospital NICUs are registered annually in the KNN. The KNN has built unique systems such as a web-based real-time data display on the web site and a site-visit monitoring system for data quality surveillance. The KNN should be maintained and developed further in order to generate appropriate, population-based, data-driven, health-care policies; facilitate active multicenter neonatal research, including quality improvement of neonatal care; and ultimately lead to improvement in the prognosis of high-risk newborns and subsequent reduction in health-care costs through the development of evidence-based neonatal medicine in Korea.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Quality Improvement ; Registries ; Republic of Korea ; Societies, Medical/*organization & administration

INTRODUCTIONDistractions and interruptions of doctor's work, although common and potentially deleterious in the intensive care unit (ICU), are not well studied.

METHODSWe used a simple observational method to describe the frequency, sources and severity of such distractions, and explore at-risk situations in the ICU. Independent paired observers separately shadowed eight residents and three fellows for 38 sessions (over 100 hrs) in a 20-bed medical ICU.

RESULTSIn total, 444 distractions were noted. Interobserver agreement was excellent at 99.1%. The mean number of distractions/doctor/hr was 4.36 ± 2.27. Median duration of each distraction was 2 mins (interquartile range 2-4 mins; range 1-20 mins). The top three initiators of distractions were other doctors (35.1%), nurses (30.4%) and oneself (18.7%). Of the 444 distractions, 107 (24.1%) were prolonged (lasting ≥ 5 mins), 210 (47.3%) led to a complete pause of current activity and 85 (19.1%) led to complete abandonment of the current activity. On multivariate analysis, physician seniority, time of session and day of week did not predict frequency of distraction. After adjusting for time of session, day of week and type of current activity, urgent distractions (to see another patient, perform immediate procedures or administer medications) and physician juniority were associated with major distractions (complete interruption or termination of current activity), while only urgent distractions were associated with prolonged distractions.

CONCLUSIONDistractions are common in the ICU and junior doctors are particularly susceptible to major distractions.

Adult ; Attention ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Continuity of Patient Care ; Critical Care ; methods ; organization & administration ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Internship and Residency ; Linear Models ; Male ; Medical Staff, Hospital ; Nurses ; Observer Variation ; Physicians ; Risk Factors ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVES: Hospitalized patients are vulnerable to sleep disturbances because of environmental stresses including noise. While most previous studies on hospital noise and sleep have been performed for medical machines in intensive care units, there is a limited data for patients hospitalized in medical wardrooms. The purpose of present study was to measure noise level of medical wardrooms, identify patient-perceived sources of noise, and to examine the association between noise levels and sleep disturbances in hospitalized patients. METHODS: Noise dosimeters were used to measure noise level in 29 inpatient wardrooms at a university hospital. Sleep pattern and disturbance were assessed in 103 hospitalized patients, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean equivalent continuous noise level for 24 hours was 63.5 decibel A (dBA), which was far higher than 30 dBA recommended by the World Health Organization for hospital wardrooms. Other patients sharing a room were perceived as the most common source of noise by the patients, which was usually preventable. Of the patients in the study, 86% had bad sleep as assessed by the PSQI. The sleep disturbance was significantly correlated with increasing noise levels in a dose response manner. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic organizational interventions are needed to keep wardrooms private and quiet to reduce sleep disturbance.
Humans ; Inpatients ; Intensive Care Units ; Noise* ; World Health Organization ; Surveys and Questionnaires

There is a lack of information on critical care in Korea. The aim of this study was to determine the current status of Korean intensive care units (ICUs), focusing on the organization, characteristics of admitted patients, and nurse and physician staffing. Critical care specialists in charge of all 105 critical care specialty training hospitals nationwide completed a questionnaire survey. Among the ICUs, 56.4% were located in or near the capital city. Only 38 ICUs (17.3%) had intensive care specialists with a 5-day work week. The average daytime nurse-to-patient ratio was 1:2.7. Elderly people > or = 65 yr of age comprised 53% of the adult patients. The most common reasons for admission to adult ICUs were respiratory insufficiency and postoperative management. Nurse and physician staffing was insufficient for the appropriate critical care in many ICUs. Staffing was worse in areas outside the capital city. Much effort, including enhanced reimbursement of critical care costs, must be made to improve the quality of critical care at the national level.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Critical Care/*organization & administration ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*statistics & numerical data ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Physicians/*statistics & numerical data ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea