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Review
. 2022 Mar 14:41:210.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2022.41.210.29956. eCollection 2022.

Intensivist and COVID-19 in the United States of America: a narrative review of clinical roles, current workforce, and future direction

Nadia Nazir Jatoi  1 , Sana Awan  1 , Maham Abbasi  1 , Momina Mariam Marufi  1 , Muhammad Ahmed  1 , Shehzeen Fatima Memon  1 , Nimra Farooqui  2 , Maaz Hasan Khan  3 , Hadi Saiyid  2 , Abdurrahman Husain  4 , Kaneez Fatima  1 , Shahram Maroof  5 , Atul Malhotra  4
Affiliations
Review

Intensivist and COVID-19 in the United States of America: a narrative review of clinical roles, current workforce, and future direction

Nadia Nazir Jatoi et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

COVID-19 continues to spread across borders and has proven to be a challenge for the existing healthcare system. The demand for intensivists has dramatically increased in the United States, in the backdrop of an expected lack of intensivists in many States even before the pandemic. One proposal has been to organize multidisciplinary teams functioning under one intensivist, as this approach would make use of the existing healthcare force and lessen the burden on intensivists. Another recommendation is the adaptation of Tele-ICUs, which have demonstrated constructive outcomes in the past. Moreover, ensuring the provision of all types of personal protective equipment, adequate testing and, other provisions such as mental health support, financial incentives for intensivists should be prioritized. More intensivists should be trained for the future, for which better institutional policies are essential.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare workers; World Health Organization; intensive care unit; personal protective equipment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
projected critical care physician shortage by State during COVID-19
Figure 2
Figure 2
workforce model adopting a tiered staffing strategy to maintain an adequate physician-patient ratio
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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