Long-term acute care hospital has 7 levels of care
Good Shepherd Specialty Hospital-Allentown (PA), a new long-term acute care hospital, receives patients who are being discharged from an acute care hospital’s intensive or cardiac care unit. The patients are stable but fragile and have extensive rehabilitative and recovery needs.
Here’s a brief look at the seven levels of care the hospital provides:
1. Patients receiving this level of care might receive intravenous care or wound care, and they have minimal therapy and medical equipment needs. They can ambulate well.
2. Patients occasionally may require some ambulation. They have daily nursing concerns, along with an increase in daily nursing treatment.
3. Patients in level three might be confined to their beds, and many have IVs. These patients have increased needs for laboratory tests and X-rays, and some have tracheostomy and pulse oximetry monitoring.
4. Patients might be alert or semi-comatose and have increasing medical needs, including labs and X-rays. They might have a tracheostomy or ventilator and increased monitoring needs.
5. These patients need continuous IV monitoring and might be started on central lines. They might receive wound care, need special beds, and could be comatose.
6. Patients in level six have central lines and invasive drug lines. This is a high-observation unit and includes tracheostomy and ventilators.
7. Patients at this highest level of care are on ventilators and might receive blood or blood products. Also, there’s a high need for laboratory work and X-rays.
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