Intensivists Are Needed in the ICU, Just Not Around the Clock

Day or night intensivist staffing in intensive care units is associated with lower mortality, but the results are not cumulative.

Evidence that daytime staffing with critical care attending physicians or nighttime intensivist coverage improve patient outcomes in intensive care units (ICUs) is conflicting. Investigators retrospectively examined the association between nighttime staffing with intensivist attending physicians and in-hospital mortality among 65,752 patients who were admitted to 49 ICUs in 25 hospitals in the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) clinical information system from 2009 to 2010. Patient-level outcome data were linked with survey data on organizational structure and care processes.

Twelve ICUs had in-house intensivist staffing at night, and 25 had residents covering the ICU at night; 22 ICUs had intensivist staffing during the…

Reviewing Author

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar