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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had deleterious effects on hospital care for patients with other medical conditions. Intensive care units (ICUs) were particularly affected, as increased demand and resource limitations required altered service models, including redeploying less experienced staff members, reduced staff-to-patient ratios, and discharging patients to wards earlier than usual. These changes may have also affected the quality of care, leading, for example, to higher incidence of pressure injuries, drug errors, and delirium.

After the Australian government declared a national state of emergency in March 2020, it introduced a range of measures to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial measures were implemented across Australia, but states and territories subsequently diverged in their responses, resulting in different case numbers.

This MJA research shares more.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain key components of the research
2. List main findings
3. Recognise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had on health service delivery to improve health outcomes in intensive care units.

Details

Author: Sing Chee Tan, Tess Evans, Matthew L Durie, Paul J Secombe and David Pilcher

Article Type: Research