Increased demand for expensive intensive care unit (ICU) services may contribute to rising health-care costs. A focus on appropriate use may offer a clinically meaningful way of finding the balance. Thirty-eight percent of 1,169 respondents (95% confidence interval (CI) 35% to 41%, 51.1% of physicians and 35.8% of nurses) identified at least one patient as receiving inappropriate treatment. Respondents most commonly reported that the amount of treatment provided was disproportionate to the patient’s expected prognosis or wishes.

Doctors and nurses working in California ICUs frequently perceive treatment to be inappropriate. They also identified measures that could reduce the provision of inappropriate treatment.

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