Interprofessional Care and Teamwork in the ICU
Some things are so obvious, that often go unnoticed or we forget them. Critical Care Medicine has just published an excellent revision titled Interprofessional Care and Teamwork in the ICU. It underlines the importance of multidisciplinary work in the modern ICU, putting in value the role of each member of the team and including patients and families in the center [...]
The HICU after the HICU: Innova HICU
"Doc, now I am leaving the ICU... are you going to follow me in the ward?" "No, no, I am just the intensivist, we are the doctors who are in the ICU. In the ward you will be visited by another doctor" This is how it works. And not only in the ward. We usually don´t know about our patients [...]
The fly
When she told me about her ICU stay, I was surprised with her first phrase: "That ICU, you know, was scary". Fear? I know that ICU and it´s not scary, it´s new and is quite well. She tells me that she was not treated badly at any time, but that ICU was very much scary for her. Her eyes are [...]
Burnout, boreout and compassion fatigue on the ICU
In a recent article by Kompanje, “Burnout, boreout and compassion fatigue on the ICU: it is not about work stress, but about lack of existential significance and professional performance”, three syndromes are described that can have the same result in health professionals: loss of the sense of work, demotivation for daily work, and apathy and lack of compassion for patients [...]
The Practice of Respect in ICU
Although RESPECT and DIGNITY are intuitive concepts, little formal work has addressed their systematic application in ICU. So, Samuel Brown an a multidisciplinary group of relevant experts have done a review of the literature and collaborative discussions focused on the practice of Respect in ICU. The article has been recently published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care. Findings include: [...]
Redesigning the information room
When a patient is admitted in the ICU, family members want to stay with this relative and know how he/she is. The information about the patient evolution is an encounter between family and staff. This encounter is essential for families, and we should humanize the enviroment where it happens, because: Patient has the right about confidentiality of the state of [...]