Journal of Emergencies, Trauma and Shock (Jan 2018)

The Intensive Care Unit Perspective of Becoming a Level I Trauma Center: Challenges of Strategy, Leadership, and Operations Management

  • Richard H Savel,
  • Wess Cohen,
  • Dena Borgia,
  • Ronald J Simon

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/JETS.JETS_9_17
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 65 – 70

Abstract

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The primary purpose of this narrative is to elucidate the numerous significant changes that occur at the intensive care unit (ICU) level as a medical center pursues becoming a Level I trauma center. Specifically, we will focus on the following important areas: (1) leadership and strategy issues behind the decision to move forward with becoming a trauma center; (2) preparation needed to take a highly functioning surgical ICU and align it for the inevitable changes that happen as trauma go-live occurs; (3) intensivist staffing changes; (4) roles for and training of advanced practice practitioners; (5) graduate medical education issues; (6) optimizing interactions with closely related services; (7) nursing, staffing, and training issues; (8) bed allocation issues; and (9) reconciling the advantages of a “unified adult critical care service” with the realities of the central relationship between trauma and surgical critical care.

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