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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Baron Opal II" data-source="post: 8523117" data-attributes="member: 6794067">That's still a good thing, however.There are, roughly, four levels of hospital care:Observation- You had a simple procedure or something's a little wonky and we want to keep an eye on you for up to 23 hours.Medical / Surgical- You're sick enough to need hospital care (general pneumonia) or had a non-Thoracic surgery  (hip replacement, gallbladder removal, &c.)Step-Down- You're pretty sick where you need more attention and more intense therapies, but we're not worried you're about to die. Non-major traumas from MVA or GSW are often here, as are those who have recovered enough that they no longer need Critical Care.Critical Care- ICU and equivalent care. You need mechanical assistance to survive (ventilators, ECMO, CVVH, &c.), have major trauma, thoracic surgeries, virulent disease, &c. We need to keep a close eye on you if you're here.Right now, at the hospital where I work, people who should be in Critical Care are getting housed in Step Down or Med/Surg beds just because we don't have room for them anywhere else. There's a big learning curve going on for nurses and staff who haven't needed to take care of people this sick. Fortunately for me, I've worked at all levels of care, so I can help mentor the staff where I am. But slowing down the inflow of patients at any time gives us more time to send healthy people home or to non-hospital care. It does make things last longer, however. We're about 30% over capacity currently.Since Omicron is less severe, they need less intense care, so this may be what we need to get sufficient herd immunity to last for the summer, take a breath, and start spreading new therapies to prevent another surge in the fall.</blockquote>

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