Structure and concept of ICU rounds: the VIS-ITS survey

To gather data about structural and procedural characteristics of patient rounds in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

A structured online survey was offered to members of two German intensive care medicine societies.

Intensivists representing 390 German ICUs participated in this study (university hospitals 25%, tertiary hospitals 23%, secondary hospitals 36%, primary hospitals 16%). In 90% of participating ICUs, rounds were reported to take place in the morning and cover an average of 12 intensive care beds and 6 intermediate care beds within 60 min. With an estimated bed occupancy of 80%, this averaged to 4.3 min spent per patient during rounds. In 96% of ICUs, rounds were stated to include a bedside visit. On weekdays, 86% of the respondents reported holding a second ICU round with the attendance of a qualified decision-maker (e.g. board-certified intensivist). On weekends, 79% of the ICUs performed at least one round with a decision-maker per day. In 18%, only one ICU round per weekend was reported, mostly on Sundays. The highest-qualified decision-maker present during rounds on most ICUs was an ICU attending (57%). Residents (96%) and intensive care nurses (87%) were stated to be always or usually present during rounds. In contrast, physiotherapists, respiratory therapists or medical specialists such as pharmacists or microbiologist were not regular members of the rounding team on most ICUs. In the majority of cases, the participants reported examining the medical chart directly before or during the bedside visit (84%). An electronic patient data management system (PDMS) was available on 31% of ICUs. Daily goals were always (55%) or usually (39%) set during rounds.

This survey gives a broad overview of the structure and processes of ICU rounds in different sized hospitals in Germany. Compared to other mostly Anglo-American studies, German ICU rounds appear to be shorter and less interdisciplinary.