ReviewNursing in critical care2026
A Reflection on Current Definitions of Critical Care and Critical Illness-A Narrative Review of the Literature.
Review in Nursing in critical care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- A Reflection on Current Definitions of Critical Care and Critical Illness-A Narrative Review of the Literature.Nursing in critical care · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCritical care and critical illness are key concepts that have been defined in various publications. A common understanding of the concepts is of great importance, but an up-to-date overview and discussion are lacking in the literature.
aimThe aim of this study was to identify and discuss current definitions of critical care, critical illness and chronic critical illness. STUDY
designWe conducted a narrative review and performed literature searches in Medline, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Embase, LIVIVO, Google Scholar, OpenGrey, Epistemonikos and Science Open as well as citation searching from July 2024 to September 2025. Reports on definitions were included if they dealt thematically with critical care, critical illness or chronic critical illness, were published within the last 10 years and were available in German or English. Data synthesis followed an inductive approach. We thematically analysed the core concepts of identified definitions, formed thematic clusters and finally approved them in multiple group discussions.
resultsIn total, 13 definitions of critical care, eight definitions of critical illness and 12 definitions of chronic critical illness were identified. Key components of critical care are the population, interventions, timing, professionals, aim, location and complexity. Critical illness is mainly characterised by future aspects and prevention, underlying causes and treatment. Chronic critical illness is determined by its duration, several complications and frailty. All three terms share the temporality and severity of a disease. Included definitions have a pronounced pathophysiological focus; they point to highly complex and technologised treatment pathways.
conclusionCurrent definitions show a generally homogeneous understanding of the care for critically ill patients. To ensure a comprehensive representation, definitions need to be adapted and consider the experiences of those involved. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The analysed clusters of the definitions of critical care, critical illness and chronic critical illness help professionals to develop their terminology and reflect on their clinical approaches.
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.