In May 2012 the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the UC Neuroscience Institute opened the nation’s first acuity-adjustable unit for neurosurgical patients. The unit is located on the hospital’s fourth floor, which also houses the neuroscience intensive care unit.
It will serve patients who are recovering from surgery for cerebrovascular disorders, brain tumors, epilepsy and Chiari malformation.
The unit enables a patient to stay in a single room during recovery. Rather than having the patient move from room to room, the room’s technologies, monitoring systems and intensity of nursing care adjust to the acuteness, or severity, of the patient’s condition. As the patient recovers, higher-level monitoring equipment can be rolled away.
The acuity-adjustable unit includes 10 patient rooms, one of which includes a mechanized lift to serve bariatric patients. Two rooms have negative air flow for patients requiring isolation. All rooms include a pull-out bed and are designed so that a family member can stay with his or her loved one around the clock.
Also among the high-tech amenities is a purse-sized portable monitor. A patient who is ready for a walk down the hall can carry the device and continue to receive monitoring oversight.
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