Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Apr;26(2):97-102.
doi: 10.1097/MCC.0000000000000714.

Quality improvement in neurocritical care: current state and looking to the future

Asma M Moheet  1 , Sarah L Livesay  2
Affiliations
Review

Quality improvement in neurocritical care: current state and looking to the future

Asma M Moheet et al. Curr Opin Crit Care. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Neurocritical care has matured as a field and there is now a growing body of literature on the subject of quality improvement in neurocritically ill patients. This review will highlight major recent contributions in this field and discuss future directions.

Recent findings: Articles published in the past 18 months have evaluated neurocritical care unit staffing, structure, and disease-specific protocols including subarachnoid hemorrhage and severe traumatic brain injury management. An assessment of current quality improvement practices in neurocritical care was also conducted. A neurocritical care-specific metric bundle is being proposed.

Summary: The quality improvement movement is gaining momentum in neurocritical care with evaluation of general medical and surgical critical care quality improvement approaches in this specific patient population. Future work should focus on improving systems of neurocritical care delivery through iterative evaluation of structure, staffing, minimizing unnecessary variation, and evaluation of neurocritical care-specific metrics.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Wijdicks EF. The history of neurocritical care. Handb Clin Neurol 2017; 140:3–14.
    1. Dhar R, Rajajee V, Finley Caulfield A, et al. The state of neurocritical care fellowship training and attitudes toward accreditation and certification: a survey of neurocritical care fellowship program directors. Front Neurol 2017; 8:548.
    1. Marcolini EG, Seder DB, Bonomo JB, et al. The present state of neurointensivist training in the United States: a comparison to other critical care training programs. Crit Care Med 2018; 46:307–315.
    1. Hocker S, Shah S, Vespa P, et al. Attendees of the 5th Neurocritical Care Research Network Conference. The future of neurocritical care research: proceedings and recommendations from the Fifth Neurocritical Care Research Network Conference. Neurocrit Care 2020; 32:311–316.
    1. Suarez JI, Martin RH, Bauza C, et al. Worldwide organization of neurocritical care: results from the PRINCE Study Part 1. Neurocrit Care 2020; 32:172–179.