Mastering Intensive Care

What number of patients should an intensivist simultaneously care for to optimise outcomes? Is a system with different day and night intensivists best for all? These are two of the questions discussed during the latest episode of Mastering Intensive Care in which Hayley Gershengorn shares her research and personal thoughts about resourcing our Intensive Care Units. There is no easy answer to matching supply and demand in our workforces, not least because it is very different between the different health professionals that work in the ICU. The current resources available and the average daily demands seem to be the key decision-making drivers in many institutions and we probably have a lot to learn from analysing big data in this area. Doctors could learn a lot from how nurses staff themselves, and likely vice versa. It is also vital that we find ways to delicately balance the needs of clinician wellness and job satisfaction with the obvious requirement for optimal patient outcomes. Turning up the screws on ou