Intermediate Care

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Intermediate Care ( English for "Zwischenpflege", from intermediate - between, IMC) or intensive monitoring care refers to a department or care unit within a hospital .

The IMC is the link between the intensive care ward with its extensive therapeutic and intensive care options and the normal ward, where close monitoring of the patient is not possible due to the low staffing levels. The IMC is designed for patients whose illness requires a lot of monitoring and care, but who do not actually require intensive care, e.g. do not need artificial ventilation . In some hospitals, the IMC is used as an intermediate station between the actual postoperative wake-up ward with a very short stay after operations and the normal ward. The IMC usually has a significantly higher staff key compared to the normal ward and serves to relieve both the intensive care and the normal ward.

Intermediate Care in Germany

For the work at the IMC, specialist nurses for intensive care and anesthesia are mostly employed; since 2008, two-year specialist training courses have been offered specifically for the IMC, which are embedded in or based on training in intensive care. The nursing staff are supported by nursing assistants and ward secretaries. The medical and therapeutic care of the patients is provided by intensive care physicians.

Intermediate Care in English-speaking countries

In contrast to the German-speaking area, IMC has been defined in English-speaking countries ( Great Britain ) since 1997 as local care and care for older people. In this sense , the IMC has rehabilitative and nursing aspects, which are understood as the link between outpatient care at home and admission to a care facility. In German-speaking care, the term bridge care is used for this area .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ For example, through the Robert Bosch Hospital
  2. ↑ Brenda H. Roe, Roger Beech: Intermediate and continuing care: policy and practice. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005, ISBN 1-4051-2033-9 , pp. 3-6.

literature

  • Jutta Busch, Birgit Trierweiler-Hauke: Pflegewissen Intermediate Care . Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-30000-4 .