Is an intensivist able to cover the same number of patients per day as an IM hospitalist, assuming same length of shift? Or would the intensivist be typically capable of covering more or less?
Patient load ICU vs IM hospitalist
- Thread starter nexus73
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IIRC the SCCM recommends no more than 14 critically ill patients per day per intensivist. You may end up seeing more and there is a wide range of who an intensivist will round on depending on practice where you work. Plus "critically ill" is a bit vague. And if every single patient your see has three or four or five organs down on multiple cardiac or vasoactive infusions plus a ventilator (think a cirrhotic with GI bleed and septic shock with kidney failure, out of control atrial fibrillation, and acute hypoxic respiratory failure), then 14 per day of THOSE patients is probably about right at the top end for mix of comfort, patient's safety, and medicolegal liability. Usually you are not seeing 14 of THOSE patients per day; you'll have 3-5 of THOSE kinds of patients and everything else is more straight forward and less complex, maybe a couple of head bleeds, a DKA, bad COPD exacerbation on a vent, 18 year old who partied too hard on a vent, a little old lady with UTI on a whiff of pressor. You can see a lot more of the straight forward kinds of patients obviously.
In general you will definitely see fewer patients than your hospitalist colleagues - most medicine admits don't go tot he MICU they go to the floor, right?
In general you will definitely see fewer patients than your hospitalist colleagues - most medicine admits don't go tot he MICU they go to the floor, right?
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in theory should be less for sure but accounting for floor patients and pulm consults etc could be similar.
At the busy hospital - I usually see between 10-15 ICU, 5 ish floor follow ups, and up to 5 new post ops/ICU upgrades/er admits.
At the not so busy hospital - I usually see between 7-12 ICU, 2-5 floor follow ups, and up to 2-3 new post op/ICU upgrades/er admits
At the busy hospital - I usually see between 10-15 ICU, 5 ish floor follow ups, and up to 5 new post ops/ICU upgrades/er admits.
At the not so busy hospital - I usually see between 7-12 ICU, 2-5 floor follow ups, and up to 2-3 new post op/ICU upgrades/er admits
