title: Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy around the Clock: Experience at a University Hospital.
abstract: Purpose:To document and describe the use of a hospital-wide, 24-hour cardiorespiratory physiotherapy service run by an intensive care unit (ICU) team of physiotherapists.Methods:We prospectively collected data on all non-ICU hospital patients who used the 24-hours-per-day cardiorespiratory physiotherapy service over a 1-year period between July 2013 and June 2014. The ICU physiotherapists documented the reason, origin of referral, time of call, and type and frequency of treatment of each patient.Results:Over the 1-year period, the ICU physiotherapists administered 2,192 out-of-hours cardiorespiratory physiotherapy treatments (n=685 patients) outside the ICU. Most referrals originated from the emergency department (25%), the cardiopulmonary transplant unit (20%), and the pulmonology department (16%). Referrals were from a physiotherapist in 49% of cases, from a nurse in 32%, and from a physician in 19%. Of these, 89% were made between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., and sputum retention was the most frequent reason (86%).Conclusion:Although proving its cost effectiveness is difficult, organizing a 24-hours-per-day, 7-days-per-week cardiorespiratory physiotherapy service in a large hospital is feasible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Devroey
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buyse
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Norrenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ros
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vincent
keywords: after-hours care; cardiorespiratory physiotherapy; quality of healthcare; respiratory care