الفهرس 
Aim of the workOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
ICU is highly specified and sophisticated area of a hospital which is
specifically designed, furnished and equipped, dedicated to management of critically
sick patient, injuries or complications. It is a department with dedicated medical,
nursing and allied staff. It operates with defined policies; protocols and procedures
should have its own quality control, education, and training and research programs.
Intensive care professionals charged with designing ICUs of the future should
begin by considering the environment in which the hospital operates. Evaluation of
processes related to intensive care and within intensive care itself provides the key for
successful design. Key points to keep in mind include: (1) there are significant
advantages to concentrating ICU resources under one administration, in a
geographically compact area, with an interdisciplinary intensive care concept, (2)
patient care, education, and research should be regarded as interrelated processes that
follow a common path, and (3) three-system model can help coordinate various
aspects of planning, design, financing, and construction.
The ICU must offer the patients and their families a positive, nurturing
environment supportive of the healing process and their psychosocial needs. In the
same way, it must support the important psychosocial needs of the intensive care staff
and offer a supportive environment for a highly stressed professional team. The ICU
can be a better place to work, as well as a better place for treatment of serious illness.
Recent medical literature has been reporting the effects of intensive care unit
(ICU) design on patients‘ and family members‘ well-being, safety, and functionality.
Features of ICU design linked to the needs of patients and their family are single
rooms, privacy, quiet surrounding, exposure to daylight, views of nature, prevention
of infection, a family area, and open visiting hours. Improving the ICU environment is
shown to increase the patients and family members‘ satisfaction while reducing the
duration of delirium. An organization based on the respect of the needs of the patients
and their family is mandatory in designing a new ICU.
ICU design should be approached by a multidisciplinary team consisting of,
but not limited to, the ICU medical director, the ICU nurse manager, the chief
architect, hospital administration, and the operating engineering staff. The chief architect must be experienced in hospital space programming and hospital functional
planning; the engineers should be experienced in the design of mechanical and
electrical systems for hospitals, especially critical care units. The design team should
be expanded as appropriate by adding members of other hospital departments working
with and/or in the critical care unit, to assure that the design meets its intended
function.