intensive care or critical care unit, a burn unit, a labor and
delivery room, antepartum and postpartum, a newborn nursery, a
postanesthesia service area, an emergency department, an
operating room, a pediatric unit, a step-down or intermediate
care unit, a specialty care unit, a telemetry unit, a general
medical/surgical care unit, a psychiatric unit, a rehabilitation
unit or a skilled nursing facility unit.
"Long-term acute care hospital." A hospital or health care
facility that specializes in providing acute care to medically
complex patients with an anticipated length of stay of more than
25 days. The term includes a free-standing and a hospital-
within-hospital model of a long-term acute care facility.
"Medical/surgical unit." A unit that:
(1) Is established to safeguard and protect patients
whose severity of illness, including all comorbidities,
restorative measures and level of nursing intensity requires
continuous care through direct observation by a direct care
registered nurse, monitoring, multiple assessments,
specialized interventions, evaluations and the education or
teaching of a patient's family or other representatives by a
competent and experienced direct care registered nurse.
(2) May include patients requiring less than intensive
care or step-down care and patients receiving 24-hour
inpatient general medical care, postsurgical care or both.
(3) May include mixed patient populations of diverse
diagnoses and diverse age groups, excluding pediatric
patients.
"Patient assessment." The direct care utilization by a
registered nurse of critical thinking, which is the
intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully
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