International journal of general medicine
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The first few hours after intensive care unit (ICU) admission, where a patient's condition is stabilized and treatment plans are formulated, are crucial to patient outcome. Although admission of patients who are unstable to ICU occurs 24 hours a day, not all units maintain the same level of staffing during off hours. We evaluated whether ICU admission during off hours affects mortality in a Moroccan ICU with the same level of staffing. ⋯ We can conclude that off hours care is not necessarily inadequate. For ICU managers, it is important to know how to maintain adequate quality of care around the clock.