Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 25, 2025
An Educational Video Demonstration of How to Prone a Critically Ill Intubated Patient
Published on: November 30, 2022
Best Practices for Conducting Interprofessional Team Rounds to Facilitate Performance of the ICU Liberation (ABCDEF)
Joanna L Stollings1,2, John W Devlin3,4, John C Lin5
1Department of Pharmaceutical Services, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
Insights
Daily interprofessional team rounds in the ICU, incorporating the ICU Liberation (ABCDEF) Bundle, enhance care coordination and provider communication. Optimizing these rounds is crucial for improving adherence to the ICU Liberation Bundle.
Area of Science:
- Critical Care Medicine
- Interprofessional Healthcare
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Daily interprofessional team rounds are essential for effective care coordination in the ICU.
- The ICU Liberation (ABCDEF) Bundle aims to improve patient outcomes through a structured approach.
- Optimizing team rounds can enhance the implementation of evidence-based practices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe evidence-based practices for conducting effective interprofessional team rounds in the ICU.
- To identify strategies for optimizing ICU interprofessional team rounds to improve adherence to the ICU Liberation Bundle.
- To support care coordination and provider communication necessary for Bundle execution.
Main Methods:
- A best practice synthesis approach was employed.
- Literature pertinent to ICU interprofessional team rounds and the ICU Liberation Bundle was reviewed.
- Authors with extensive experience in the ICU Liberation Campaign contributed to the synthesis.
Main Results:
- Effective ICU interprofessional team rounds require optimal structure, bedside conduct, and inclusion of essential participants.
- Involving ICU patients and families in rounds-based discussions is beneficial.
- Incorporating the ICU Liberation Bundle into the Electronic Health Record can facilitate team communication and decision-making.
- Patient-centered, goal-oriented discussions and inclusive communication strategies are vital.
Conclusions:
- High-quality interprofessional team rounds in the ICU are a key strategy for supporting the use of the ICU Liberation Bundle.
- Optimized team rounds improve care coordination and provider communication, leading to better Bundle performance.
- Implementing evidence-based practices in ICU rounds enhances patient care and outcomes.
Objectives:
Daily ICU interprofessional team rounds, which incorporate the ICU Liberation ("A" for Assessment, Prevention, and Manage Pain; "B" for Both Spontaneous Awakening Trials and Spontaneous Breathing Trials; "C" for Choice of Analgesia and Sedation; "D" for Delirium Assess, Prevent, and Manage; "E" for Early Mobility and Exercise; "F" for Family Engagement and Empowerment [ABCDEF]) Bundle, support both the care coordination and regular provider communication necessary for Bundle execution. This article describes evidence-based practices for conducting effective interprofessional team rounds in the ICU to improve Bundle performance.
Design:
Best practice synthesis.
Methods:
The authors, each extensively involved in the Society of Critical Care Medicine's ICU Liberation Campaign, reviewed the pertinent literature to identify how ICU interprofessional team rounds can be optimized to increase ICU Liberation adherence.
Results:
Daily ICU interprofessional team rounds that foster ICU Liberation Bundle use support both care coordination and regular provider communication within and between teams. Evidence-based best practices for conducting effective interprofessional team rounds in the ICU include the optimal structure for ICU interprofessional team rounds; the importance of conducting rounds at patients' bedside; essential participants in rounds; the inclusion of ICU patients and their families in rounds-based discussions; and incorporation of the Bundle into the Electronic Health Record. Interprofessional team rounds in the ICU ideally employ communication strategies to foster inclusive and supportive behaviors consistent with interprofessional collaboration in the ICU. Patient care discussions during interprofessional team rounds benefit from being patient-centered and goal-oriented. Documentation of ICU Liberation Bundle elements in the Electronic Health Record may help facilitate team communication and decision-making.
Conclusions:
Conducting high-quality interprofessional team rounds in the ICU is a key strategy to support ICU Liberation Bundle use.
Related Concept Videos
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:30Ethical Dilemmas II
01:29SBAR I: Understanding the Concept
Standardized methods of communication have been developed to ensure that information is...
01:28Acute Coronary Syndrome IV: Interprofessional Care
01:27Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare: