Technology and the Future of Intensive Care Unit Design

Abstract

Changing market demand, aging population, severity of illnesses, hospital acquired infection, clinical staff shortage, technological innovations, and environmental concerns-all are shaping the critical care practice in the US today. However, how these will shape Intensive Care Unit (ICU) design in the coming decade is anybody's guess. In a Graduate Architecture Studio of a research university, students were asked to envision the ICU of the future while responding to the changing needs of the critical care practice through innovative technological means. This paper reports the ICU design solutions proposed by these students.

Two Decades (1993-2012) of Adult Intensive Care Unit Design

“…However, booms are also the most expensive and architecturally demanding systems, followed by power columns, and then by headwalls [for further discussion on these systems, refer to 1,3,17,39]. Since the life support and medical utility systems are important both for cost and care, the 2012 SCCM Guidelines states, "The design team should consider the patient type, functional plan, staff preferences, technology trends, and potential future needs" when selecting these systems [3:1588].…”

Intensive Care Unit Facility Design

“…1 Specific design elements have even been related to improved outcomes for both patients and staff in human hospitals. 10 Human guidelines often can be applied to veterinary medicine or can be a valuable source of inspiration despite the fact that the setting is very different. 1,3,[7][8][9] Changes in market demand, aging of the population, increased severity of illnesses, rise in hospital-acquired infections, clinical staff shortages, technologic innovations, and environmental concernsall are shaping the critical care practice in human medicine today.…”

Intensive care unit organisation and nurse outcomes: A cross-sectional study of traditional and “hot-floor” structures

“…[2,6,7] A large-capacity multi-specialty integrated ICU service model, referred to as an ICU "hot-floor" (see Figure 1), is emerging as a preferred organisational approach in tertiary referral hospitals where traditionally sub-specialty ICUs typically operated in isolation. [8][9][10] Multiple pods (or units) of ICU and high dependency unit (HDU), or "step down", beds are physically collocated and managed as a single integrated service. Critical care sub-specialties include neurosciences, cardiothoracic surgery, trauma and general medicine and surgery.…”