Focusing on fundamentals of care in an ICU setting during a pandemic

Abstract

Aims: This manuscript aims to describe one acute care hospital's ICU journey during the COVID-19 pandemic and how fundamental care was central to the implementation of team-based models of care.

Background: Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, team-based and alternative models of care are being employed to manage and address global shortages and surge capacity. Employing these alternate models of care required attention to ensure fundamental care needs of patients were being met.

Design/method: The following paper describes an ICU's journey of focusing on the delivery of the fundamentals of care through the implementation of team-based models of care to address the surge in patient care demands experienced in response to our global pandemic.

Conclusions: The implementation of an evidence-informed approach to optimizing models of care and staffing in the ICU amid the evolving COVID-19 waves in one acute-care hospital is provided. This local approach focused on meeting patients' fundamental care needs throughout the necessary introduction of team-based care models and staffing changes and drew from evolving evidence, the ILC Fundamentals of Care Framework, and regulatory guidance.

Keywords: fundamental care; provision of care; team-based models of care.