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COVID-19 continues to challenge health-care systems and ICUs around the globe more than one year into the pandemic and in spite of all advances in diagnosis and treatment of the disease caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2. Many open questions remain concerning optimal medical therapy, respiratory management and resource allocation, particuly in times of limited available health care personell. In the following short article, we summarized current knowlegde on management of COVID-19 in the ICU., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: Critical care information systems (CCIS) are computer-based systems designed to process the growing amount of complex medical data in intensive care units (ICU). Previous studies have shown that CCICs can increase the quality of patient care by reducing errors and improving work efficiency; however, other studies have shown that CCISs can also cause harmful effects by disrupting workflow, facilitating medication errors or increasing charting time. The factors that decide whether a CCIS has a positive or negative impact on patient care are summarized under the term "usability". This article summarizes the results of three previously published papers on this topic., Objective: The aim of the study was to identify which CCIS functions were considered useful by clinical ICU staff and how well these functions are implemented in the CCISs currently used in German ICUs., Material and Methods: An online survey was performed targeting nurses and physicians working in German ICUs using a previously validated questionnaire. The questionnaire included a list of functions (36 for physicians/31 for nurses) that were preselected by experts based on a comprehensive model of ICU work processes. Each of these functions was rated by the study participants on a Likert scale ranging from 0 (worst rating) to 5 (best rating) with respect to the usefulness to identify which functions of CCIS can truly be considered as useful by clinical ICU staff. Furthermore, the participants rated how well these functions were implemented in the CCIS currently in use on the ICU, also using a Likert scale of 0-5. Further questions were provided to rate specific technical usability aspects of the CCISs currently in use. In addition, to capture possible confounders the questionnaire recorded 18 individual and workspace characteristics which might influence the ratings., Results: A total of 171 nurses and 741 physicians participated in the survey of which 535 used CCISs. Of the functions 33 were rated as useful for doctors and 28 functions for nurses with median scores between 4 and 5. Participants currently using CCISs gave higher ratings compared to participants not using CCISs. The quality of the functions was rated relatively lower than the usefulness and the availability. Furthermore, currently used CCISs in Germany differ greatly in their technical and task-specific usability. Of the CCISs investigated, the system ICUData had the best overall rating and technical usability followed by the systems ICM and MetaVision. The same three CCIS were rated best in task-specific functions without significant differences between them., Conclusion: Those functions that were identified as useful based on the ratings of clinical ICU staff should be implemented in current CCIS. The list of these functions might be regarded as a first step towards providing a catalog of functional requirements for CCISs. Furthermore, as the results show that the quality of the available functions was rated lower than the availability of the functions, manufacturers should shift more of the effort away from the development of new features and focus on improving the user-friendliness and quality of existing functions.

Health services research (HSR) is a multidisciplinary field of research that describes disease treatment and health care and their framework conditions. In the last 20 years, the HSR aspect became more and more the clinical focus of intensive care medicine. Under this aspect HSR investigates the use of clinical measures and their impact on patient outcome under routine intensive care medical conditions. This article provides an overview of the current state of HSR in intensive care medicine in Germany using the example of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The ARDS still represents a clinical disease with high intra-hospital mortality (30-60%) despite progress in intensive care medicine. Survivors of ARDS have substantial long-term limitations on physical and mental health. The treatment of ARDS patients is tedious, laborious for intensive care unit staff and complex. Despite evident treatment recommendations, these are only insufficiently implemented in the clinical routine. With the help of quality indicators, benchmarking, certification and peer review procedures, the quality of intensive care treatment in the clinical routine can be documented and improved. An important role in HSR is patient safety and focusing on the outcome with evaluation of the patient's will. As part of the establishment of the innovation fund for HSR, promising intensive medical care projects have been promoted to improve the quality of care and the quality of long-term outcome for intensive care patients. An important focus lies on the identification of factors that improve long-term quality of life after intensive care. The expansion of registries and telemedicine in intensive care offers the opportunity to bundle and share experiences more effectively and thereby establish (guideline-based) treatment recommendations faster in the clinical practice.

The major multidrug-resistant pathogens (MRE) in human medicine are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and multidrug-resistant Gram-negative rod bacteria (MRGN). MRE are a very heterogeneous group with respect to epidemiology and therapeutic or hospital hygiene consequences. After MRSA played an important role among MREs at the beginning of the twenty-first century, VRE and MRGN have come to the fore in recent years. During work in the operating room and on the intensive care unit, there are many possibilities for transmission of MRE between the patient environment and the patient, especially via the hands, e. g. during intubation or catheterization in vessels, tissues or the urinary tract. For this reason, hand and surface hygiene is of particular relevance in the prevention of nosocomial colonization or infection, in particular with MRE.

Background: The German "Hospital Structure Act" intends to align the state hospital planning on quality criteria. Within this process cost-utility analyses (CUAs) shall be used to assess the efficacy of medical care. To be objective, CUAs of intensive care units (ICUs) require standardization (adjustment) of costs. The present study analyzed the extent to which treatment costs are related to patient-specific baseline variables (such as type and severity of the primary disease)., Methods: From 2000-2004, a bottom-up procedure was used to quantify total costs on 14 ICUs in nine German university hospitals. Results were combined with demographic data, and data indicating type (ICD-10 codes) and severity (ICU scoring systems) of the primary disease at ICU admission. Various statistical models were tested to identify that which best described the associations between baseline variables and costs., Results: In all, 3803 critically ill patients could be examined. The median of treatment costs per patient was 3199 € (IQR 1768-6659 €). No model allowed an acceptably precise adjustment of costs; the estimated mean absolute prognostic error was at least 3860 € (mean relative prognostic error 66%), when we tested an Extreme Gradient Boosting Model., Conclusion: Instruments which are currently available (cost adjustment based on patient-specific baseline variables) do not allow a standardization of costs, and an objective CUA of ICUs. Factors unknown at baseline may cause a large portion of treatment costs.

The care of critically ill patients in an intensive care unit is effected by an interprofessional and interdisciplinary team. Quality and success of intensive care is mainly based on the performance of this team. Suitable quality management measures, based on valid indicators, insure an optimal workflow for the benefit of patient safety., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

We report on the German Peer Review procedure for the quality management of Intensive Care Wards. The third up-date of the quality-indicators was published in 2017. The Peer Review Procedure, its organization, the development of quality indicators in Germany and their benefit for the patients is introduced., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Patient safety has become a hot topic, and there are numerous initiatives ongoing to improve patient-relevant processes. But how can both the effectiveness and sustainability of these initiatives be evaluated? The aim of the present paper was to describe the development of an instrument to assess patient safety aspects which can be used for normal hospital ward and intensive care unit rounds or in the operating room., Methodology: All relevant patient safety guidelines and checklists of the University Hospital Graz were screened. Subsequently, questions were extracted from these documents which can be used in a checklist for "real-time" ward rounds by local observers., Results: Based on the document screening two sets of criteria were prepared, one for operating rooms and one for normal hospital wards and intensive care units. Using a survey tool two checklists were then generated on the basis of these criteria, which can be used for the so-called "patient-safety feedback" from the observers., Conclusion: Whether guidelines or checklists, which should theoretically improve patient safety, are properly understood and applied as intended by healthcare professionals can only be evaluated by using methods like monitoring the respective processes. The checklists for conducting the so-called "patient-safety feedback" seem to be an effective instrument to assess patient safety-relevant processes in "real-time"., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Background: Point of care testing with blood gas analysis (BGA) is an important factor for intensive care medicine. Continuous efforts to optimize workflow, improve safety for the staff and avoid preanalytical mistakes are important and should reflect quality management standards., Aim: In a prospective observational study it was investigated whether the implementation of a new system for BGA using labeled syringes and automated processing of the specimens leads to improvements compared to the previously used procedure., Material and Methods: In a 4-week test period the time until receiving the final results of the BGA with the standard method used in the clinical routine (control group) was compared to the results in a second 4-week test period using the new labeled syringes and automated processing of the specimens (intervention group). In addition, preanalytical mistakes with both systems were checked during routine daily use. Finally, it was investigated whether a delay of 10 min between taking and analyzing the blood samples alters the results of the BGA., Results: Preanalytical errors were frequently observed in the control group where non-deaerated samples were recorded in 87.3 % but in the intervention group almost all samples (98.9 %) were correctly deaerated. Insufficient homogenization due to omission of manual pivoting was seen in 83.2 % in the control group and in 89.9 % in the intervention group; however, in the intervention group the samples were homogenized automatically during the further analytical process. Although a survey among the staff revealed a high acceptance of the new system and a subjective improvement of workflow, a measurable gain in time after conversion to the new procedure could not be seen. The mean time needed for a complete analysis process until receiving the final results was 244 s in the intervention group and 201 s in the control group. A 10-min delay between taking and analyzing the blood samples led to a significant and clinically relevant elevation of the values for partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) in both groups compared to the results when analyzing the samples immediately (118.4 vs. 148.6 mmHg in the control group and 115.3 vs. 123.7 mmHg in the intervention group). When using standard syringes the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) was significantly lower (40.5 vs. 38.3 mmHg) whereas no alterations were seen when using the labeled syringes., Conclusion: The implementation of a new BGA system with labeled syringes and automated processing of the specimens was possible without any difficulties under daily clinical routine conditions in this 10-bed intensive care unit (ICU). A gain of time could not be measured but a reduction in preanalytical errors using the labeled syringes with automated processing was found. Delayed analysis of blood samples can lead to significant changes in pO2 and pCO2 depending on the type of syringe used.

Background and Aim: Hand hygiene practice is one of the most effective measures to prevent healthcare-associated infections. This study examines the trends of hand hygiene compliance among physicians and nurses on the intensive care units (ICU) and hematopoetic stem cell transplantation units (HSCTU) at Hannover Medical School. An observational study via repeated cross-sectional assessments was conducted during the first 6 years of the "AKTION Saubere Hände" (ASH), i.e. the German adaptation of WHO's "Clean Care is Safer Care" campaign., Methods: Compliance rates were directly observed in accordance with WHO definitions on the 10 ICU and two HSCTU. Overall, 13,175 hand hygiene opportunities were observed between 2008 and 2013., Results: In 2008, compliance rates of physicians and nurses did not differ significantly in statistical terms (53% vs. 57%, p=0.085). Physicians' compliance improved to 64% in 2011, but declined again to 48.4% in 2013 (p < 0.001). In contrast, hand hygiene compliance among nurses had increased to 71.3% as soon as 2009 /10 (p < 0.001). Their compliance dropped to 55.8% in 2013 and thus to baseline level (p=0.444), while remaining higher than that of physicians (p=0.003). Similar trends pertained to the surgical ICU., Conclusions: These results indicate that during the ASH-campaign hand hygiene compliance increased initially both among physicians and nurses, albeit so far not in a sustainable fashion. This implies an increased demand for interventions which not only promote motivation, but also its translation into stable and sustained behavior in accordance with guidelines., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Intensive care patients regularly feel pain, not only during intensive care therapeutic measures but also when resting. The associated negative physiological and psychological sequelae can be serious and protracted in intensive care patients. Acute pain is predestined for the development of persistant neuropathic pain., Aim: This study informs the readership on the contents of the amended 2013 guidelines of the American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCCM) on pain, agitation and delirium and presents strategies for implementation of the guidelines., Material and Methods: The focus of the amended recommendations is to give recommendations for treatment, in particular with respect to practical implementation of evidence-based scientific knowledge in the daily routine of intensive care wards., Results: The fundamental principles which are summarized in these guidelines are: the regular collation of pain, measurement of depth of sedation and delirium with valid and reliable measurement instruments, an adequate and preemptive analgesia, administration of sedatives only when necessary and titration of sedatives so that patients remain responsive and are able to react., Conclusion: The amended version of the guidelines is intended to achieve a high acceptance and clinical implementation in intensive care medical teams and therefore to improve the outcome of intensive care patients by optimized therapy.

Background: Effectiveness of intensive care treatment is essential to cope with increasing costs. The German national register of intensive care established by the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI) contains basic data on the structure of intensive care units in Germany. A repeat analysis of data of the DIVI register within 8 years provides information for the development of intensive care units under different economic circumstances., Methods: The recent data on the structure of intensive care units were obtained in 2008 and compared with the primary multicenter study from 2000. The hospitals selected were a representative sample for the whole of Germany. Data on the status of the hospital, staff and technical facilities, foundation of the hospital and the statistics of mechanically ventilated patients were analyzed., Results: The technical facilities and the number of staff have improved from 2000 to 2008. A smaller availability of diagnostic procedures and staff remain in hospitals for basic treatment outside normal working hours. The average utilization of intensive care unit beds was not altered. The existence of intermediate care units did not significantly change the proportion of patients with artificial ventilation or ventilation times. The number of beds in intensive care units was unchanged as was the average number of beds in units and the number of patients treated. A relevant number of beds of intensive care units shifted towards hospitals with private foundation without changes in the overall numbers. The structure of the hospitals was comparable at both time points., Conclusions: The introduction of intermediate care units did not alter ventilation parameters of patients in 2008 compared with 2000. There is no obvious medical reason for the shift of intensive care beds towards private hospitals. The number of staff and patients varied considerably between the intensive care units. The average number of patients treated per bed was not different between the periods or between hospitals with different structures. Overall availability of medical staff and diagnostic procedures increased during the study period. An increase of availability of fully trained medical staff in intensive care medicine is desirable to increase the quality of treatment.

Background and Objective: Aim of the survey was to determine the compliance with national guidelines for the prevention of central venous catheter (CVC)-associated bloodstream infection in German intensive care units (ICUs)., Methods: Within the pan-European PROHIBIT (Prevention of Hospital Infections by Intervention and Training) survey on infection control an online-questionnaire was answered by German ICU staff. Questions concerned insertion and handling of CVC. Continuous data are presented in median including interquartile range (IQR); categorical parameters are summarized by percentage., Results: Ninety-two percent of ICUs created local guidelines for the prevention of CVC-associated sepsis according to national guidelines. Eleven percent did not provide educational sessions for health care workers concerning sepsis prevention routinely. The subclavian vein was the favored insertion site in 17 % of ICUs. A standardized approach for daily assessment of the need of the CVC was established in 39 % of ICUs. Impregnated (antiseptic or antibiotic) CVCs were used by every fourth ICU. Single-use vials were not used as single-use vials by a third of ICUs., Conclusion: There are still many German ICUs in which national guidelines are not implemented. Training of staff is necessary to raise awareness for prevention measures and to contribute to a good quality of patient care., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Due to malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia dysphagia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in acute stroke patients. Early detection of patients at risk of dysphagia leading to timely treatment improves the outcome., Methods: A survey concerning the current state of dysphagia diagnostics and therapy was carried out among certified stoke units in Germany., Results: Of the 163 invited hospitals 51% participated in the study. A standardized dysphagia program lying mainly within the responsibility of speech language therapists (64%) is established in 94%. Main elements are swallowing assessments carried out by nurses (72%) and the clinical swallowing examination (93%). Instrumental diagnostics are available in 55% with videoendoscopy (52%) being more widely used than videofluoroscopy (17%). In the acute stage nutrition with texture modified diets is the primary therapeutic strategy., Conclusions: Structured programs for the diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia have generally been established but individual strategies differ and differences in the quality of care are obvious.

Unlabelled: : The German Commission on Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention has published several recommendations regarding hygiene in the intensive care unit. Compliance with these recommendations was surveyed., Methods: In 2005 and 2011, the intensive care units of all hospitals in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, were examined by members of the public health department, using a checklist based on the respective recommendations., Results: Recommendations on the architecture and function of intensive care wards were almost fully complied with, except for the stipulated amount of space and nursing personnel. Compliance with recommendations for prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia and for prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections was excellent, with only some minor exceptions. Regarding hand hygiene, in 2011 fewer faults were documented than in 2005. All hospitals took part in the German project of the world-wide campaign "clean care is safer care." In 2005, device-associated infections were surveyed in 92% intensive care units, and in 2011 in all of them. By 2011, screening of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus had been established in all intensive care units., Conclusion: Most problems that were observed regarded a scarcity of space and of facilities for isolation of patients and of nursing personnel. Improvements were seen in hand hygiene and in screening for multidrug resistant organisms (MDRO).

Safety is of extraordinary value in commercial aviation. Therefore, sophisticated and complex systems have been developed to ensure safe operation. Within this system, the pilots are of specific concern: they form the human-machine interface and have a special responsibility in controlling and monitoring all aircraft systems. In order to prepare pilots for their challenging task, specific selection of suitable candidates is crucial. In addition, for every commercial pilot regulatory requirements demand a certain number of simulator training sessions and check flights to be completed at prespecified intervals. In contrast, career choice for intensive care medicine most likely depends on personal reasons rather than eligibility or aptitude. In intensive care medicine, auditing, licensing, or mandatory training are largely nonexistent. Although knowledge of risk management and safety culture in aviation can be transferred to the intensive care unit, the diversity of corporate culture and tradition of leadership and training will represent a barrier for the direct transfer of standards or procedures. To accomplish this challenging task, the analysis of appropriate fields of action with regard to structural requirements and the process of change are essential.

Peer reviewing in intensive care medicine is an evaluation process that promotes a professional understanding of quality and the exchange of experience in intensive care. It will help integrate evidence-based knowledge into the treatment process at an earlier stage and thus improve the quality of intensive care and intensive nursing care. The process is a learning experience for all involved and is highly satisfying to the participants. The exchange of experience is an essential part of quality control., (Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Certification is a compulsory element of today's quality management. However, the instruments used for certification have mostly originally been developed for industrial purposes. Even with tried and tested adaptation to hospital structures, transferring these instruments to the medical environment implies partial negligence of outcome quality. This fact is due to the multidimensional structure of medical outcome quality, which cannot be reduced to only one indicator. This review describes the necessity to develop a specific indicator system, which is needed for an objective, reliable and valid system of certification for intensive care units. The second part of the review describes the current efforts which are being undertaken to develop such a certification system for German intensive care units. Until this new system has been validated, certification of intensive care units is of limited value for evaluating the quality of intensive care units in Germany.

The recommendations of the German Robert Koch Institute, concerning microbiological screening of newly admitted hospital patients for MRSA colonization, referred to specific risk groups such as patients admitted from long-term care facilities. New literature data indicate that a general MRSA screening policy of all incoming patients may be a cost-effective measure in intensive care units of large tertiary care hospitals.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to present data from the SARI study (Surveillance of Antibiotic Use and Bacterial Resistance in Intensive Care Units) on antibiotic use in Intensive care Units (ICU) in Germany and to determine parameters responsible for involved in the diversity of antibiotic usage., Methods: Antibiotic administration in 43 intensive care units in Germany was recorded. Antibiotic usage density (AD) was measured: it describes the use of antibiotics and is expressed as defined daily doses (DDD) and is normalized per 1000 patient-days (pd). Prescribing parameters were the number of antibiotics administered, the amount of the most frequently used antibiotics as a percentage of total antibiotic use and the percentage of selected antibiotic groups as part of total use., Results: Median antibiotic use was 1156 DDDs per 1000 patient-days in the year 2005. However, antibiotic administration was very heterogeneous and ranged from 450 to 1 799 DDDs/1 000 pd. There was no statistically significant association between total use and status or type of hospital and type of ICU. Use of antibiotic groups was also heterogeneous: if pooled data are taken, penicillins and cephalosporins each accounting for a quarter of total antibiotic use. In individual ICUs the use of quinolones was more than 35% of all drugs given, 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins almost 40% and carbapenems up to 30%. The most frequently used antibiotic per ICU made up 17% (median) of total antibiotic use, the three most frequently administered antibiotics accounting for up to 40%., Conclusion: The great heterogeneity of antibiotic use may indicate room for improvement. Prescribing parameters such as the percentage of antibiotic groups among total antibiotic usage provide additional information on the selective pressure of antibiotics used in the ICU beyond quantitative data on drug administration.

Current regulations regarding living wills need to be revised in order to avoid conflicts between patients or their relatives/surrogates on one side, and physicians on the other. For wording the will the patient should seek not only legal, but also medical advice. For doctors treating the patient, it would be helpful if a written statement existed in which the patient identifies what kind of medical treatment he/she wants. This would apply to cases in which a patient's illness or injury precludes decision-making. Such a will could be stored on a still-to-be-established "health check card." By way of this card, the physician treating the patient could retrieve information about any living will in addition to the purely medical information. Despite potential gaps and uncertainties a patient's living will indicates to the physician that this patient has certain expectations regarding his/her treatment. In the event of a patient falling unconscious, the physician must talk to the relatives/surrogates in order to explore the patient's expectations about his/her treatment as nearly as closely as possible. This is the only way for the medical practitioner to meet his/her obligation towards the patient.

Although validated instruments are readily available for structured outcome assessment, this has been rarely employed in German intensive care units yet. Analysis of the effectiveness or efficiency of intensive care medicine without systematic assessment of outcomes and underlying structures and processes is impossible. Detailed knowledge of outcomes is mandatory, when continuous quality improvement is warranted. In the future, German intensive care units should implement regular outcome assessment to allow objective comparisons considering the particular case mix. Evidence-based guidelines may facilitate both, development of objectives, and assessment of outcomes. Owing to the advancement of medicine regular updates of guidelines are mandatory. Moreover, targets for the quality assessment need to be adjusted accordingly. This finally leads toward a continuous quality improvement process.

Background: Aim of this study was to determine to what extent evidence-based infection control recommendations are applied in German intensive care units (ICUs)., Methods: A questionnaire concerning handling of tubes, central vascular catheters (CVC), urinary tract catheters and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) positive patients was sent to 230 participants of the German Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (KISS)., Results: Nasal intubation is routinely performed in 9% of ICUs, all recommended measures for CVC insertion were obeyed by 43% of ICUs and one-third of ICUs conduct regular screening of urine in catheterized patients. Urinary tract catheters are replaced at defined time intervals in 37% of ICUs. MRSA positive patients are not isolated in 5% of ICUs. MRSA screening on admission is not performed for high risk patients in 16% of ICUs., Conclusions: There are still many German ICUs in which evidence-based recommendations are not implemented. Training of staff is necessary to improve quality of patient care.

Intensive care units (ICUs) are considered to be high-risk areas for the emergence and spread of multiresistant bacterial pathogens. In Germany, there are no representative epidemiological data on antibiotic resistance, on the use of antibiotics in ICUs, or on the correlation between antibiotic use and the emergence of resistance. Project SARI (surveillance of antibiotic use and bacterial resistance in ICUs), which as a part of the epidemiological network Spread of Nosocomial Infections and Resistant Pathogens (SIR) is supported by the German Ministry of Science and Education, started in February 2000 and meanwhile includes data on antibiotic use and resistance rates in 38 medical, surgical, and interdisciplinary ICUs. To date (February 2000-June 2003), a total of 1142 months, 413,065 patient days, and 550,288 defined daily doses (DDDs in accordance with the WHO) have been covered with a mean antibiotic usage density (AD) of 1335 DDDs/1000 patient days and resistance data on 37,612 isolates from ICUs. Ciprofloxacin use and MRSA correlate significantly, as do imipenem use and the rate of imipenemresistant P. aeruginosa. The genodiversity of P. aeruginosa is lower in ICUs with high resistance rates and low use of imipenem than in ICUs with high resistance rates and high use. This is an indirect parameter of transmission of identical strains. The epidemiological data of SARI form a basis for improved antibiotic and infection control management in ICUs (http://www.sari-antibiotika.de).

Scoring systems represent classification systems or point systems which have been designed for making quantitative statements regarding the severity of a disease, its prognosis, and its course. Furthermore, scores may serve the purposes of assessing therapies, of quality control and of quality assurance, and of an economic evaluation of intensive care. Like all measuring methods, scores are susceptible to failures and systematic mistakes. The clinical user should be well aware of these limitations. Generally, one would recommend only using scores which have been rigorously tested for their reliability, validity, and practicability. These include, but are not limited to, the updated versions of the APACHE, the SAPS, and the MPM. Although great strides have been made concerning development, verification, and clinical applicability, scores still exhibit a level of uncertainty which precludes their use in individual patients. Frequently, it may be of benefit to combine the more general scores with one or several organ dysfunction scores to determine the extent of functional impairment of specific organs. If, however, well-trained medical personnel apply tried and tested scoring systems, intensive care units will definitely gain a lot from it.

Introduction: Nosocomial infections are an important problem in modern hospitals. The prevalence in German intensive care units is 15.3%. Hand washing or hand disinfection is believed to be the most important means of preventing nosocomial infections. We wished to answer the following questions: 1. How good is the compliance of hand hygiene on intensive care units? 2. Is compliance associated with the patient/nurse-ratio?, Method: In a study of 8 intensive care units the compliance of hand hygiene was observed on two occasions, once in May 1996 and again in November 1997. The prime necessity for hand disinfection occurred when handling ventilation devices, intravascular catheters, urinary catheters and dressings. In addition the patient/nurse-ratio was calculated., Results: A total of 1,879 infection-relevant handlings were observed. The compliance of hand hygiene ranged from 25.7 to 83.2% (mean 55.2%). The most commonly observed handlings were the manipulation of venous catheters (52.7%), the highest compliance was observed with the manipulation of ventilation equipment (91.8%). With a better patient nurse ratio the compliance did not improve but remained the same or was even reduced., Discussion: The compliance of hand disinfection is similar to other study results, but on some intensive care units there was considerable room for improvement. In this study the compliance of hand hygiene is more of a constant factor in individual intensive care units than associated with the patient/nurse-ratio.

Background: The high risks associated with untreated infection in critically ill newborns or children lower the threshold for prescription of antibiotic treatment. Inappropriate use of antibiotic therapy promotes the emergence of resistant strains. This study had three aims: to identify sources of inappropriate antibiotic utilisation, to develop revised guidelines and to implement changes., Methods: An observational study was performed in a tertiary, multidisciplinary, neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a university teaching hospital during a 7-month period (456 admissions). Guidelines addressing one of the identified sources of inappropriate utilisation (prophylaxis following surgery) were developed according to published evidence and implemented, and the effect on prescription patterns was assessed during a second observation period., Results: Patients received systemic antibiotics during 54.6% of all hospitalisation days. Antibiotics prescribed for suspected or proven infection were often continued 1-2 days beyond the intended duration. Prophylaxis accounted for 28% of all systemic antibiotics given, and postsurgical prophylaxis accounted for 14.6% of all exposure days. The literature search revealed little evidence to support this practice. After new guidelines were introduced with the aim of restricting surgical prophylaxis to a single dose prior to surgery, the rate of postsurgical prophylaxis dropped from 14.6 to 11.2% of all exposure days, accompanied by a significant decline in the overall exposure rate from 54.6 to 50.2% of all hospitalisation days., Conclusion: Several sources of inappropriate antibiotic utilisation were identified. These include failure to discontinue treatment and prolonged prophylaxis after surgery. Implementation of new guidelines reduced antibiotic utilisation.

Background and Objectives: To achieve in Germany complete therapeutic cover for patients after a stroke, models will have to be formulated that incorporate such units within the confines of departments of general medicine, where most stroke patients are at present being treated. Preliminary experience of such a unit is reported here., Patients and Methods: The stroke unit, conceived for "mixed assessment", has 6 beds within a normal ward but an increased number of specially trained personnel and specialized equipment. The aim was the rapid diagnosis, targeted treatment, monitoring, early mobilization and, if necessary, smooth and direct transfer to an installation for rehabilitation to which the patient can be taken during the entire stay in the acute stroke unit., Results: During a period of 11 months 120 patients (68 men, 52 women; mean age 71 years) were treated in the stroke unit, 47% having been admitted within 3 hours of the acute episode. An acute ischaemic attack had occurred in 85%, cerebral haemorrhage in 15%. The median European stroke scale (ESS) was 76 on admission, 90.5 on discharge, the Barthel index 45 and 90, the ranking scale 3.2 and 2.3, respectively. The complication rate per patient during hospital stay was 0.5. There were 12 deaths (10%), 22.2% among those with cerebral bleeding, 7.7% of those with ischaemia. Mean hospital stay was 13.3 days. 57.4% patients were transferred to a rehabilitation unit, 34.2% discharged home, 2.8% directly to a nursing home. The remaining 6 had undergone immediate vascular (4) or neurological (2) procedures., Conclusion: A "mixed assessment" stroke unit within a general medical department is feasible. It improves working conditions and patient care as well as reducing the length of hospital stay.

The objective of this review is to describe which hygiene measures are appropriate and necessary in anaesthesia and the ICU and which are not, whereby unnecessary hygiene measures are those which are not substantiated by scientific data. The most effective single infection control measure is still hand disinfection between patient contacts. Unnecessary measures include routine sampling of environmental surfaces, disinfecting the floor in the ICU, protective gowns for visitors, so called in-line filters in the infusion system etc. Ventilator tubes only need to be exchanged once a week, even when no HMEs are used.

The movement for quality in medicine is starting to take on the dimensions of a crusade. Quite logically it has also reached the intensive care community. Due to their complex multidisciplinary functioning and because of the high costs involved, ICUs are model services reflecting the overall situation in our hospitals. The situation of Swiss intensive care is particularly interesting, because for over 25 years standards for design and staffing of Swiss ICUs have been in effect and were enforced via onsite visits by the Swiss Society of Intensive Care without government involvement. Swiss intensive care thus defined its structures long before the word "accreditation" had even been used in this context. While intensive care in Switzerland is practised in clearly defined, well equipped and adequately staffed units, much less is known about process quality and outcomes of these services. Statistics on admissions, length of stay and length of mechanical ventilation, as well as severity data based on a simple classification system, are collected nationwide and allow some limited insight into the overall process of care. Results of intensive care are not systematically assessed. In response to the constant threat of cost containment, Swiss ICUs should increasingly focus on process quality and results, while maintaining their existing good structures.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to systematically validate the APACHE III scoring system concerning severity of illness classification and prediction of hospital mortality. Such data have not yet been determined in a large population of critically ill patients in germany., Methods: 531 patients (ICU stay > 4 hours) were prospectively and consecutively investigated. The day-1-scores and risk-of-death predictions of APACHE III and APACHE II were determined. A comparison was performed between both scoring systems, and the correlation with the observed hospital mortality was examined., Results: For both main validation criteria, as were discrimination (areas under the ROC-curves: APACHE III 0.873; APACHE II 0.859) and calibration (goodness-of-fit testings; p > 0.05), both scoring systems provided satisfying results concerning hospital mortality, no system showing a significantly superior performance. Compared to the observed hospital mortality (13.4%), the prediction of APACHE III (13.2%) was extremely accurate, whereas the prediction of APACHE II was higher (16.8%). The standard (mortality index not significantly < or > 1.0) provided by APACHE III was fulfilled, while the standard given by APACHE II was surpassed. The mean scores and the mean risk-of-death predictions for non-survivors were significantly higher compared to survivors (P < 0.001). The individual score values of both systems were found to have a strong correlation (r = 0.922)., Conclusions: APACHE III (like APACHE II) provides a sufficient severity of disease classification and accurately predicts overall hospital mortality in a representatively large german population of a medical ICU. Therefore APACHE III can be regarded as validated for the use in comparable german ICUs. For use as a standard the more recently introduced APACHE III seems to be superior to the established but older APACHE II. However, each user will--depending on the particular questions to be addressed--carefully have to evaluate, if the improvement of prognostic accuracy really justifies the increased amount of workload necessary for calculating APACHE III score and risk prediction.

Suprapubic fistula catheter drainage (SFC) has numerous important advantages compared with transurethral bladder drainage. Commercial SFC-sets should provide security and comfort to a high degree for patients and users in general, so that they can make profitable use of these advantages. The equipment of SFC-sets should be adapted to the site and circumstances of use. Therefore, we recommend the introduction of defined standard SFC-sets for application in intensive-care units. We describe 16 usual SFC-sets. Every single set possesses certain disadvantages. Improvements, especially as far as trocar and catheter are concerned, are necessary to lead to a further spread of the SFC-method, so that more patients can benefit from the method. Detailed hints for improvements and alterations are provided.

Patients with acute severe respiratory insufficiency can only be correctly monitored, treated and nursed in a well-equipped intensive care unit staffed with well-trained personnel. Qualified doctors and nursing staff are more important for the monitoring and assessment of the patient's symptoms than highly sophisticated electronic monitoring systems. Continuous controls of vital and mechanical functions are however essential , as are the services of well-run laboratories. Treatment calls, above all, for the use of efficient and reliable respirators capable of adjustment to suit the impaired breathing. The quality of nursing and the success of intensive medical care measures are best ensured by well-designed layouts, strict adherence to sensible and appropriate hygienic techniques, continuous and practice-related further education for personnel, and unrestricted communication inside and outside the intensive care unit.

By examples it is shown, that there are various possibilities to evaluate the 5380 microbiological findings of patients. 87 different species were isolated and out of these the most frequent species were determined (S. aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, D-streptococci, E. cloacae, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis and P. aeruginosa). By different graphical manners of representation it is shown, how often (absolute and relative) this spectrum of germs occurred within selected periods. The most frequent sampling spots were bronchial and tracheal secretion with a part of 45% and belonging to these sampling spots the spectrum of germs is shown as an example. The recorded findings are appointed to 1020 patients. The possibility of control individual patients by data processing is demonstrated. As examples susceptibility patterns of three species (S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa) are shown by different manners of representation--spread of resistant strains to several antibiotics, percentage of resistant strains in a certain period and finally a combination of these manners.