The Care Ecosystem
A nursing method that prioritizes, organizes, and reduces the cognitive load of the professional.
Where ORICU comes from
Twenty years ago, researcher Beatrice Kalisch gave a name to something every professional knows but almost nobody said aloud: missed care. Things the patient needed that never got done — not out of neglect, but because the shift is a chaos of interruptions, shifting priorities, and hundreds of micro-decisions each professional makes alone, with information scattered everywhere.
A large European study later confirmed this across hospitals throughout the continent. ORICU was born exactly there: in that feeling of leaving a shift fearing something was left undone.
ORICU for every part of care
Every profile has its place. Find yours.
I am a nurse →
For those who work the shift and recognise the feeling of leaving with doubts. ORICU was born from exactly that — and understands that the professional is also part of care.
02I represent a hospital or service →
For managers and supervisors who want to better structure nursing care and reduce care omissions.
03I am a family member or have been a patient →
What the family knows, needs and feels is part of care, and ORICU takes it into account.
04I come from academia →
For lecturers, researchers and students interested in ORICU as an object of study.
Why ORICU deserves serious attention
Second National Prize · 2nd Vithas Care Conference 2026
The ORICU post-discharge pilot received the Second National Prize at the 2nd Vithas Care Conference 2026, endorsed by the General Council of Nursing.
National patent pending at the OEPM
ORICU is protected by a pending application before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, with a recognised priority date of 20 December 2025. The ORICU trademark is also registered.
Communications and publications
LI Congreso Nacional de la SEEIUC 2026 — Oral presentation (ID 29)
«Ecosistema cognitivo enfermero para la organización del cuidado crítico»
V Congreso Internacional de Enfermería 2026 — Revista FUDEN
«ORICU: sistema cognitivo enfermero para la organización del cuidado crítico»
XIII Congreso Internacional Virtual Iberoamericano de Enfermería — ISBN 978-84-16679-31-7
«Modelo de continuidad asistencial enfermera tras el alta hospitalaria: diseño, implantación y medición de un programa piloto estructurado»
XIII Congreso Internacional Virtual Iberoamericano de Enfermería — ISBN 978-84-16679-31-7
«ORICU: sistema cognitivo de planificación enfermera en cuidados críticos. Desarrollo y evaluación comparativa»
Looking at the whole person,
not fragmented.
ORICU assesses care through six pillars. None too many. None missing.
The patient
Four pillars assess the integral condition of the person in the bed: their body, clinical situation, comfort and safety. Everything needed to care for them well, with nothing left out.
The family
The family is not a visitor: they are part of the patient's condition. What they know, need and feel connects directly with the previous four pillars and completes them.
The professional
The sixth pillar looks to the other side of the bed. The professional's workload, training, talent. Caring for the caregiver is not an extra: it is part of the method.
What the ORICU method does
The method takes everything the assessment gathers, grounds it in scientific evidence and translates it into the standardised language of nursing — an international taxonomy any professional in the world understands. It returns it ordered and prioritised: the urgent first, the important after. Nothing lost.
Clinical decisions always remain with the professional at the patient's side. ORICU supports the information. Professional judgement belongs to those who care.