Table 3.

Organisational factors contributing to ICU admission and discharge delays.

Contributing factor	Admission	Discharge
Information management and teamwork
Conflicting goals		[24]
Teamwork issues		[24]
Communication breakdowns		[24–26]
Lack of shared situational awareness		[24–26]
Lack of resources
Busy workload (unit/hospital)	[28]	[24, 29, 32]
Lack of an available bed	[28]	[24, 29, 32, 33]
Specific bed placement requirements due to, for example, infection precautions		[29, 32]
Lack of adequate staff	[28]	[29, 32, 33]
Receiving unit not ready for transfer	[28]	[24]
Time of discharge (night and weekend transfers)		[29, 32, 33]