ICU Bed Stewardship

One of the reasons that clinicians refuse non-beneficial treatment is to preserve scarce ICU beds for other patients who have a prospect of benefit.  A new study forthcoming in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care confirms that "ICU bed shortage may be associated with a loss of chance for some patients. . . .  [P]atients who were not admitted to the ICU due to a shortage of beds had a higher risk of early mortality . . . ."