• Nicholas M Mohr, John Collier, Elizabeth Hassebroek, and Heather Groth.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA; Division of Critical Care, Department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Electronic address: nicholas-mohr@uiowa.edu.
• J Crit Care. 2014 Apr 1;29(2):194-8.

PurposeThis study aimed to characterize intensive care unit (ICU) physician staffing patterns in a predominantly rural state.Materials And MethodsA prospective telephone survey of ICU nurse managers in all Iowa hospitals with an ICU was conducted.ResultsOf 122 Iowa hospitals, 64 ICUs in 58 (48%) hospitals were identified, and 46 (72%) responded to the survey. Most ICUs (96%) used an open admission model and cared for undifferentiated medical and surgical patients (88%), and only 27% of open ICUs required critical care or pulmonary consultation for admitted patients. Most (59%) Iowa ICUs had a critical care physician or pulmonologist available, and high-intensity staffing was practiced in 30% of ICUs. Most physicians identified as practicing critical care (63%) were not board certified in critical care. Critical care physicians were available in a minority of hospitals routinely for inpatient intubation and cardiac arrest management (29% and 10%, respectively), and emergency physicians and other practitioners commonly responded to emergencies throughout the hospital.ConclusionsMany Iowa hospitals have ICUs, and staffing patterns in Iowa ICUs mirror closely national staffing practices. Most ICUs are multispecialty, open ICUs in community hospitals. These factors should inform training and resource allocation for intensivists in rural states.© 2014.

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