Systematic Multidisciplinary Intervention Facilitates Quality ICU Care

The complexity of caring for intensive care unit (ICU) patients and the number of daily interventions that they require make standardization of evidence-based care practices difficult. Failure to consider some routine ICU interventions can lead to preventable adverse events and poor outcomes. A gap persists between recommended ICU “best practices” and actual care: Data from a study at single tertiary care ICU showed an average of 150 serious errors and 36 preventable adverse events per 1000 patient-days (Crit Care Med 2005; 33:1694).

Researchers at a tertiary care academic medical center in St. Louis evaluated whether use of a mandatory written checklist would improve adherence to best practices and change practice patterns. A multidisciplin…