Content analysis for the concept critical care
| Codes | Category | Theme |
| Identifying and addressing critical illness | Identification and monitoring of critical illness | Identification, monitoring and treatment of critical illness |
| Medical care with timely monitoring | ||
| Appropriate monitoring of critical illness | ||
| Management of critically ill patients | Treatment of critical illness | |
| Treat critical illness | ||
| Care given to the critically ill | ||
| Services required to stabilise critical illness | ||
| Reduce the risk of death from a critical illness | ||
| Care dedicated to patients with severe illness or potentially severe condition | ||
| Managing life-threatening condition | Addressing life-threatening condition | |
| Preventing the occurrence of life-threatening conditions | ||
| Treatment and management due to the threat of imminent deterioration | ||
| Medical care required to reduce the risk to the patient’s life | ||
| Care to sustain cardiopulmonary functions | Supporting vital functions | Vital organ support |
| Support the patient’s haemodynamic or cardiorespiratory status | ||
| Supportive care in critical illness to enable body’s systems to continue functioning before definitive treatment can work | ||
| Care of vital organ failure | ||
| Focus of care on supporting vital organs until improvement | ||
| Providing organ support | Organ support | |
| Main focus on organ-supporting treatment. | ||
| Support of vital organ function, or reverse specific organ dysfunctions | ||
| Supportive care for organs that are failing | ||
| Provision of support to dysfunctional body systems | ||
| Early management for saving and maintaining life | Timely care | Initial and sustained care |
| Rapid and timely intervention that is administered in critical illness | ||
| From admission until the course of illness ends, either in full recovery or death | From start of critical illness until the patient is no longer critically ill | |
| From home through to discharge from hospital | ||
| From the time of first contact with healthcare services through to stabilisation | ||
| To the point where the illness or injury is no longer acutely life-threatening | ||
| Critical care could be over days to weeks | Sustained care | |
| Constant monitoring | ||
| Irrespective of the location of the patient within the health system | Any location | Any care of critical illness |
| Anywhere in the emergency or inpatient setting | ||
| Any care provided to critically ill patients | Any care provided to critically ill patients | |
| Can be specialised care but depends on the level of resources | ||
| Usually located in an area with infrastructure to support these activities | Specific area | Specialised human and physical resources |
| Inside a healthcare facility, outside the emergency department | ||
| High dependency care | ||
| Care in ICU or critical care unit | ||
| A place where equipment, staff and environment is ready to save patients with life-threatening disease | ||
| Multidisciplinary care | Multidisciplinary and specialist staff | |
| Specially trained staff | ||
| Essentially a team based and multiprofessional care | ||
| Requires the grouping of special facilities and specially trained staff | ||
| Higher level of care than is available on a general ward | High-intensity care | |
| Minute-by-minute nursing and/or medical care | ||
| Advanced respiratory support/mechanical ventilation | ||
| Nursing 24/7 | ||
| High nurse: patient ratio no lower than 1:2 |
ICU, intensive care unit.