Critical Care

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Climate and cultural aspects in intensive care units

Bertrand Guidet1,2,3 and Vicente González-Romá4

Author Affiliations

1 Inserm, Unité de Recherche en Épidémiologie Systèmes d'Information et Modélisation (U707), Paris, F-75012, France

2 UPMC Univ Paris 06, France

3 Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, service de réanimation médicale, Paris, F-75012, France

4 Idocal, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, 46010-Valencia, Spain

Critical Care 2011, 15:312 doi:10.1186/cc10361

Published: 16 November 2011

Abstract

Research carried out in the field of work and organisational psychology shows that work unit climate and culture are important determinants of work unit performance. We briefly summarise what we have learnt about the climate-performance relationship in work units distinct from ICUs. Then, we show how the ICU culture can be measured, and summarise research on the culture-performance relationship in ICUs.