Critical Care 1950 to 2022: Evolution of Medicine, Nursing, Technology, and Design.

ABSTRACT

Critical care units-designed for concentrated and specialized care-came from multiple parallel advances in medical, surgical, and nursing techniques and training taking advantage of new therapeutic technologies. Regulatory requirements and government policy impacted design and practice. After WWII, medical practice and education promoted further specialization. Hospitals offered newer, more extreme, and specialized surgeries and anesthesia enabled more complex procedures. ICUs developed in the 1950s, providing a recovery room's level of observation and specialized nursing to serve the critically ill, whether medical or surgical.