In an open ICU, the nurse would most likely be working with which staffing arrangement?

• A. Multidisciplinary team that includes a physician employed by the hospital
• B. Primary care physician who must consult a critical care specialist
• C. Multidisciplinary team with physicians who are also responsible for patients on other units
• D. Physician in charge of patient care who is a specialist in critical care

Answer: (C)

In an open ICU, the physician who has an ongoing relationship with the patient remains responsible for that patient in the ICU, while the ICU team provides support but does not take exclusive control. The nurse would therefore work with a multidisciplinary group in which physicians who care for patients on other units also have patients in the ICU. This setup preserves continuity of care and the primary physician–patient relationship, rather than placing all ICU patients under a single intensivist or requiring every patient to be seen by a separate critical care specialist.

The other arrangements imply a more centralized model—either a dedicated hospital-employed ICU physician leading the team, or a system where a primary care or non-ICU physician must rely on separate critical care consultation—which does not fit the open ICU concept.