Unités de surveillance continue

A significant number of ICU patients, ICU care only related to close monitoring and the high cost of ICU beds led to the creation of intermediate care beds. The concept and cost-effectiveness of such units has been suggested twenty years ago in the US. In France, recent law and regional health organisation (schéma régionaux d'organisation sanitaire) made the obligation for the hospital to create intermediate care units. Their organization principles have been defined by a law published in 2002. However, the patient/nurse ratio has not been specified in this law and only English published guidelines and French critical care medicine societies suggestions may help to evaluate the clinical characteristics of the patients, the process of care and the transfer modalities of these patients. The French critical care societies (SRLF and SFAR) are working in a project in the aim to better target which patients should benefit of intermediate care unit and which resources could be integrated with the French “TAA” process.