López-Jardón Paula, Martínez-Fernández María Cristina, García-Fernández Rubén, Martín-Vázquez Cristian, Verdeal-Dacal Rodrigo
Asturias Medical Centre, 33193 Asturias, Spain.
SALBIS Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Campus de Ponferrada, Universidad de León, 24401 León, Spain.
Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Jan 24;12(3):296. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12030296.
Intermediate care units (IMCUs) have become increasingly important in the care of critical and semi-critical patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is still no clear definition of their structural characteristics, specialties, types of patients, and the benefits they provide. The aim of this work is to describe the current state of implementation and operation of IMCUs in hospitals and patient care. To achieve this goal, a systematic review was conducted in the Web of Science, Scopus and CINAHL databases, along with a hand search. The research yielded 419 documents, of which 26 were included in this review after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results were highly diverse and were categorized based on the following topics: material resources, human resources, continuity of care, and patient benefits. Despite the different objectives outlined in the studies, all of them demonstrate the numerous benefits provided by an IMCU, along with the increased relevance of this type of unit in recent years. Therefore, this systematic review highlights the benefits of IMCUs in the care of critical patients, as well as the role of health workers in these units.
中级护理单元（IMCUs）在危重症和半危重症患者的护理中变得越来越重要，尤其是在新冠疫情期间。然而，对于其结构特征、专科情况、患者类型以及所提供的益处，仍然没有明确的定义。这项工作的目的是描述医院中IMCUs的实施和运行现状以及患者护理情况。为实现这一目标，我们在科学网、Scopus和CINAHL数据库中进行了系统综述，并进行了手工检索。该研究共获得419份文献，在应用纳入和排除标准后，本综述纳入了其中26份。结果差异很大，并根据以下主题进行了分类：物质资源、人力资源、护理连续性和患者益处。尽管各项研究中概述的目标不同，但所有研究都表明了IMCU所带来的诸多益处，以及近年来这类单元的重要性日益增加。因此，这项系统综述强调了IMCUs在危重症患者护理中的益处，以及医护人员在这些单元中的作用。
