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ICU Liberation

The ICU Liberation Campaign aims to liberate patients from the harmful effects of an intensive care unit stay.

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What is the ICU Liberation Campaign?

Liberate patients from the harmful effects of an ICU stay with the ICU Liberation Campaign. It provides evidence-based strategies for the entire multiprofessional critical care team that have been shown to improve outcomes for patients and reduce costs for hospitals, while transforming ICU culture.

Gain the knowledge and skills to implement the ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F) and improve outcomes for patients through pain management and prevention, focus on mobility and exercise, and evidence-based strategies to prevent and manage delirium.

ICU Liberation also helps strengthen family engagement to ensure a holistic team approach.
 

Who benefits from the ICU Liberation Campaign?

ICU teams, patients, families, and hospital administrators all benefit from the ICU Liberation Campaign. It is for ICU teams seeking to improve short- and long-term outcomes for patients during their ICU stay and beyond, allowing them to not only survive, but thrive. These interventions have also been associated with a reduction in administrative costs for hospitals and third-party payers.
 

Why should you implement the ICU Liberation Campaign?

Studies have shown that implementing ventilator weaning protocols, maintaining light levels of sedation, and preventing and managing delirium can improve patient outcomes. Early mobilization and family engagement also play key roles in reducing long- and short-term consequences of an ICU stay. The greatest benefit occurs when these interventions are combined.
 

How do I get started?

There are many ways to get started with the ICU Liberation Campaign. SCCM recommends that you download the ICU Liberation Implementation Toolkit to get more information about the basics of implementation. Then consider hosting a course at your institution or exploring other education.



 

Download the Toolkit

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Education

Find educational materials to help your team understand the foundations of the ICU Liberation Campaign. From adult and pediatric guidelines to books and courses, find valuable expert-developed content.

Implementation

Find tools to implement the ICU Liberation Campaign. Whether you are just starting implementation or you are part of a seasoned team seeking to expand quality improvement efforts, SCCM has expert-developed resources, including toolkits, electronic health record resources, and more.

ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F)

The ICU Liberation Bundle A-F elements individually and collectively work to reduce delirium, prevent and manage pain, achieve early mobilzation, and reduce long-term consequences for adult ICU patients.

PADIS Guidelines

The 2018 PADIS Guidelines provide a roadmap for developing integrated, evidence-based, and patient-centered protocols that can be implemented through the ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F). Access both the PADIS and 2013 PAD guidelines. 
 

Pediatric ICU Liberation

The ICU Liberation Campaign is expanding to include more resources for children and infants. One of the pillars of these resources is the new 2022 PANDEM guidelines. Find all the tools available to help you implement the ICU Liberation Campaign in a pediatric ICU. 

You don’t have to apply the ICU Liberation Bundle perfectly on every patient every day. It has what we like to call a dose-response effect, so even if your bundle performance is modest, you will see the benefit. But the better you apply the ICU Liberation Bundle and the more consistently you apply it in the care of all patients in the ICU, the greater your return on your investment.

Juliana Barr, MD, FCCM
Juliana Barr, MD, FCCM
Member since 2001

ICU Liberation Implementation Toolkit

The ICU Liberation Implementation Toolkit provides adult and pediatric critical care teams with a variety of resources to champion and sustain bundle implementation. The toolkit contains:
  • An ICU Liberation Implementation Framework Booklet, with individual guidance for each bundle element
  • Data metrics and compliance definitions
  • A spreadsheet for data collection
  • Dashboard compliance and performance reports

SCCM

Host an ICU Liberation Course at Your Institution

The SCCM Licensing Team can provide details about bringing training to your institution.

Contact Us
Hosting an SCCM licensed course offers a unique opportunity to train your staff. Hosted courses combine expert-developed lectures with hands-on skill stations and are available in both in-person and online formats. Choose to hold one course or explore package pricing.
Learn More About Hosting a Course


 
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Latest from the Critical Connections Blog

ICU Liberation Bundle Implementation: Nurses Champion Change as Early Adopters
How can nurses champion change and improve outcomes by implementing the ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F)? Laura S. Maples, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, summarizes how nurses become early adopters of the bundle, focusing on advocacy for their patients’ best outcomes, and advocating for multiprofessional collaboration to successfully implement the elements of the bundle.
Posted: 8/17/2022 | 0 comments | ICU Liberation, ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F), Nurses

SCCM Releases PANDEM Guidelines for Critically Ill Children and Infants
Emphasize importance of continual assessment, nonpharmacologic interventions, and family involvement. The PANDEM guidelines for children and infants were published in the February 2022 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.
Posted: 2/2/2022 | 0 comments | Delirium, ICU Liberation, PANDEM Guidelines, pediatric

ICU Liberation: How Pharmacists Can Champion Change and Improve Outcomes
Joanna L. Stollings, PharmD, FCCP, FCCM, and Devin N. Holden, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, summarize how pharmacists can play an important role in the development and implementation of each element of the ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F).
Posted: 9/9/2021 | 0 comments | ICU Liberation, ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F)

Achieving Buy-In for the ICU Liberation Campaign
As a bedside nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU), I did not have much understanding of the financial impact my care was having on the patients and my hospital. I have since graduated with a master’s degree in nursing as a clinical nurse specialist and achieved a doctorate of nursing practice. Since moving into an operations role nearly three years ago, I have seen the financial impacts of care to which I had been oblivious for the first part of my career. I ask myself: How do I advocate for the best patient care while balancing costs to ensure a financially healthy organization?

The answer: The ICU Liberation campaign.
 
Posted: 3/8/2021 | 0 comments | ICU Liberation

Countering COVID-19 Delirium with the ICU Liberation Bundle
The ICU liberation Bundle (formerly known as the A-F bundle) is more important than ever in the COVID-19 era. While the pandemic has changed much inside intensive care units (ICUs), the commitment to provide multiprofessional, high-quality care is unwavering.
Posted: 6/17/2020 | 0 comments | Coronavirus, COVID-19, Disaster Response, Emergency Response, ICU Liberation, Pandemic