Role of the nephrologist in the intensive care unit.
Intensive care units (ICUs) are increasingly becoming a focal point for tension between medical specialists. In an extreme approach to this issue, some ICUs have become closed units managed by intensivists, with other specialists, such as nephrologists, having a restricted supportive role. The nephrologist, a subspecialist with broad skills in general internal medicine, has trained and appropriately can serve as the primary physician for patients with significant renal failure and end-stage renal disease in multiple hospital settings, including the ICU. Sick and complex hospitalized patients offer ample opportunity for a collaborative interaction between the nephrologist and intensivist in the ICU.
Charytan
C
C
New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, Flushing, NY, USA.
Kaplan
A A
AA
Paganini
E P
EP
Weiss
J
J
Owen
W F
WF
D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D009398:Nephrology; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce