ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The intensive care environment in hospitals has been the subject of significant empirical and qualitative research in the 2005-2020 period. Particular attention has been devoted to the role of infection control, family engagement, staff performance, and the built environment ramifications of the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. A comprehensive review of this literature is reported summarizing recent advancements in this rapidly expanding body of knowledge. PURPOSE AND AIM: This comprehensive review conceptually structures the recent medical intensive care literature to provide conceptual clarity and identify current priorities and future evidence-based research and design priorities. METHOD AND RESULT: Each source reviewed was classified as one of the five types-opinion pieces/essays, cross-sectional empirical investigations, nonrandomized comparative investigations, randomized studies, and policy review essays-and into nine content categories: nature engagement and outdoor views; family accommodations; intensive care unit (ICU), neonatal ICU, and pediatric ICU spatial configuration and amenity; noise considerations; artificial and natural lighting; patient safety and infection control; portable critical care field hospitals and disaster mitigation facilities including COVID-19; ecological sustainability; and recent planning and design trends and prognostications. CONCLUSIONS: Among the findings embodied in the 135 literature sources reviewed, single-bed ICU rooms have increasingly become the norm; family engagement in the ICU experience has increased; acknowledgment of the therapeutic role of staff amenities; exposure to nature, view, and natural daylight has increased; the importance of ecological sustainability; and pandemic concerns have increased significantly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Discussion of the results of this comprehensive review includes topics noticeably overlooked or underinvestigated in the 2005-2020 period and priorities for future research.