ArticlePloS one2018
Perspectives on strained intensive care unit capacity: A survey of critical care professionals.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients and staff perspectives on hospital ward strain and its impacts on patient care and the workforce: a mixed-methods systematic review.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2026Pooled it
- Contributors to perceived workload strain in the pediatric intensive care unit.Intensive care medicine. Paediatric and neonatal · 2026Article
- Pediatric critical care capacity in Canada.Paediatrics & child health · 2025Article
- Trends and Patterns of ICU E-Referrals in Saudi Arabia during 2020-2021: Results from the National Saudi Medical Appointments and Referrals Centre.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Predictors of hand hygiene attitudes among Saudi healthcare workers of the intensive care unit in Saudi Arabia.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Public perception of participation in low-risk clinical trials in critical care using waived consent: a Canadian national survey.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2024Article
- Review
- An observational study on factors associated with ICU mortality in Covid-19 patients and critical review of the literature.Scientific reports · 2023Review
- Intensivist physician-to-patient ratios and mortality in the intensive care unit.Intensive care medicine · 2023Article
- Health and Well-Being of Intensive Care Unit Physicians: How to Ensure the Longevity of a Critical Specialty.Anesthesiology clinics · 2023Review
- A critical care outreach team under strain - Evaluation of the service provided to patients with haematological malignancy during the Covid-19 pandemic.Journal of critical care · 2022Article
- Demand for Intensive Care beds and patient classification according to the priority criterion.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2021Article
- Association between intensive care unit occupancy at discharge, afterhours discharges, and clinical outcomes: a historical cohort study.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2020Article
- Survival predictors after intubation in medical wards: A prospective study in 151 patients.PloS one · 2020Article
- Physicians' Perceptions of Stakeholder Influence on Discharge Timing in a Children's Hospital.Global pediatric health · 2019Article
- Nursing workload associated with the frequency of multidisciplinary rounds: a cross-sectional study.Revista Brasileira de terapia intensivaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStrained intensive care unit (ICU) capacity represents a supply-demand mismatch in ICU care. Limited data have explored health care worker (HCW) perceptions of strain.
methodsCross-sectional survey of HCW across 16 Alberta ICUs. A web-based questionnaire captured data on demographics, strain definition, and sources, impact and strategies for management.
results658 HCW responded (33%; 95%CI, 32-36%), of which 452 were nurses (69%), 128 allied health (19%), 45 physicians (7%) and 33 administrators (5%). Participants (agreed/strongly agreed: 94%) reported that strain was best defined as "a time-varying imbalance between the supply of available beds, staff and/or resources and the demand to provide high-quality care for patients who may become or who are critically ill"; while some recommended defining "high-quality care", integrating "safety", and families in the definition. Participants reported significant contributors to strain were: "inability to discharge ICU patients due to lack of available ward beds" (97%); "increases in the volume" (89%); and "acuity and complexity of patients requiring ICU support" (88%). Strain was perceived to "increase stress levels in health care providers" (98%); and "burnout in health care providers" (96%). The highest ranked strategies were: "have more consistent and better goals-of-care conversations with patients/families outside of ICU" (95%); and "increase non-acute care beds" (92%).
interpretationStrain is perceived as common. HCW believe precipitants represent a mix of patient-related and operational factors. Strain is thought to have negative implications for quality of care, HCW well-being and workplace environment. Most indicated strategies "outside" of ICU settings were priorities for managing strain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.