The Frequency of Patients Requiring Intermediate Care Unit at the Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran

Intermediate Care Unit is for patients who do not need intensive care but cannot be admitted to normal wards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of patients in need of intermediate care in Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran in 2020.

This research was applied and descriptive. Patients admitted to some normal wards and intensive care units of Al-Zahra Hospital were considered as the study population. To determine the sample size, 240 samples were obtained, which were randomly distributed in 14 checklists in each section. The data collection tool was a researcher-made checklist that the reliability of the checklist was 0.8 using Cronbach's alpha test. The collected data were analyzed by STST software.

Of the 31 patients who died, 5 patients (2.44%) were admitted to the intensive care unit, 12 patients (12.09%) were admitted to the intensive care unit, and 14 patients (19.23%) were admitted to the intensive care unit. Due to the size of the gamma effect (0.96), the formation of the intermediate care unit in Al-Zahra Medical Center has a strong effectiveness (gamma between 0.8 to 1.19 indicates strong effectiveness).

Examining the demographics of patients in need of transfer to the IMCU ward and also the feasibility of its establishment, the findings indicate the existence of hospitalization criteria for a number of patients in the interstitial care ward and confirm the effectiveness of its establishment. The desired infrastructure will be able to improve care and mortality outcomes while reducing hospitalization costs and overall patient care.