Welcome to Curodoc, where we provide ICU care at home. Our ICU setup at home is a true replica of a hospital Intensive Care Unit with more personalized care provided by equally and efficiently trained healthcare professionals at home. This article will cover everything you need to know about ICU at home, including its purpose, benefits, types of ICU Beds at Home, key responsibilities of nurses, and more.
What is ICU at Home?
ICU at Home is a sophisticated setup that provides treatment and monitors people who are critically ill, in the terminal stage of diseases, or recovering from surgery and presenting with post-surgery complications. In some cases, patients that need to be transferred out of the hospital Intensive Care Units are given Care at home for various medical, emotional, and rational reasons.
Patients nearing the end of their life may still benefit from being discharged to their homes, where ICU services and nursing care can still be offered. Extended stays in the ICU may raise the chance of developing infections such as nosocomial infections, which could postpone the beginning of therapeutic procedures. Those who may require Critical Care setup at home in the form of a home ICU include patients recovering from a lengthy stay in the intensive care unit, neurological patients, patients with spinal/brain injuries and multiple trauma, post-transplant patients, patients receiving end-of-life care, cancer patients, patients with final-stage respiratory disorders, and patients with ventilator and tracheostomy.
What is the Purpose of the ICU at Home?
The purpose of the ICU at home is to provide critical care to patients who require it. The best way to describe critical care provided at home is professional, protocol-driven healthcare. Highly skilled and experienced nursing attendants assist highly qualified and experienced medical experts regularly to ensure high-quality care is provided at home while strictly adhering to guidelines that have been globally recognized.
Under strict medical oversight, customized patient care is given. The patient’s primary physician administers critical care under the direction of a personalized care plan. Daily reports, prepared as clinical data and available on portable digital devices, are used to track progress. The patient and his or her family have regular access to patient health reports, illness counselling, and patient education in addition to the words given to doctors for consultation, keeping them and the carers informed and involved in the patient’s progress.
Types of ICU
The type of ICU in hospitals varies depending on the type of care and services given to the patient. The major types of Intensive Care Units include coronary care and cardiothoracic care (CCUs/CTUs), surgical Intensive Care, Medical Intensive Care, and long-term Intensive Care (LTAC ICU).
Key Responsibilities of Nurses at ICU at Home
Basic care, critical care, specialist care, identifying alterations in patient lab values and other parameters, and life-sustaining procedures are the key responsibilities of nurses in the ICU at home. They include IV cannulations, Ryle’s tube management, Foley catheter management, wound dressing, medication administration, personal hygienic care & much more. Ventilator handling, central line care, infusion of high alert medications, oxygen administration, tracheostomy care & suctioning, colostomy care, PEG tube feeding, and more.
Benefits of ICU at Home
Choosing Critical-Care at home has several benefits, including cost-effectiveness, personalized care (24*7 one-to-one service), doctor supervision round the clock, reduced risk of hospital-acquired infections, and faster recovery. The advantages of choosing critical Care at home include quicker patient recovery due to better treatment compliance, lower risk of secondary infections, improved patient satisfaction due to better clinical results, shorter stays that boost efficiency and throughput, and less possibility of secondary infections.
