A Reflection on Current Definitions of Critical Care and Critical Illness-A Narrative Review of the Literature.
Fritz Sterr, Anja Gerlach, Chris Creemers and 5 others
PMID 41504334WHAT IT FOUND
Definitions of critical care, critical illness and chronic critical illness vary widely.
The review found 13, eight and 12 definitions, with differences in timing, setting and complications, and almost no mention of patient experience.
Key findings
01The review identified 13 definitions of critical care, eight definitions of critical illness and 12 definitions of chronic critical illness.
02Critical care definitions clustered around population, interventions, professionals, aims, location, complexity and timing.
03Definitions mostly focused on physiology and treatment, and patient or relative experience was largely absent.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only definitions in German or English were included, so other-language meanings were missed. Only definitions from the last 10 years were included, so older understandings were not represented. The searches were formative, not systematic, so the review may not capture all relevant definitions. The authors did not assess the quality of the included studies or definitions. The paper describes definitions, not patient outcomes, so it cannot show that any definition improves care.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this review as proof that a single definition of critical care, critical illness or chronic critical illness is correct. It is a narrative review of existing definitions, with non-systematic searches and no quality appraisal, so it cannot show that any definition improves care.