The effect of implementing high-intensity intensive care unit staffing model on outcome of critically ill oncology patients.

Objective: Implementing high-intensity staffing model improves outcome in general intensive care units (ICUs). We studied the effect of implementing such a model on the outcome of critically ill medical patients in an oncology ICU.

Design: We compared admission rates, ICU mortality rates (MRs), 28-day MRs, length of stay (LOS) for patients discharged alive, and bed turnover rates of medical patients admitted to the ICU in the year 2004 (before an intensivist model was established) with those in the years 2006 and 2007 (after the model was established).