Le service de soins intensifs (réanimation) adultes à Genève, Suisse

The University Hospitals of Geneva is the largest hospital complex in Switzerland and is coupled to the Faculty of medicine of the University of Geneva. The division of adult intensive care is a 32-bed mixed medical and surgical ICU, made of three different units: one neurocritical care unit, one cardiovascular unit, and one polyvalent unit receiving patients that do not fit into the two previous units. More than 2200 patients are hospitalised yearly in the division of adult intensive care, staying a mean of 4 days. The ICU mortality rate is 7.5% for a mean SAPS2 of 44 points. A fourth non-geographical unit with dedicated doctors and nurses is dedicated to the specific needs of “long-stayers” and their next of kin and to the organisation of post-ICU clinics, 6 and 12 months after ICU discharge. Nurses follow a special ICU training of 2 years, and obtain an ICU nurse certificate. One nurse takes care of 1.5 patients during the day and 2 patients during night shifts. The ICU division is a training centre for doctors to become intensivists and a centre for quality clinical research.