Often initiated as a matter of urgency, a patient’s admission to an intensive care unit a critical moment, during which treatment is often intensive and aggressive from the outset in order to stabilize the patient’s condition and compensate for the failure of their vital functions. It often means that the person's life is at risk and, therefore, that they are highly vulnerable.
The resulting hospitalization can last from a few days to several months, during which every detail will matter. A prolonged stay in intensive care often intensive care multiple phases of improvement and deterioration in your loved one’s condition; the extreme fragility of intensive care patients puts intensive care at particularly high risk for complications. People often refer to the “roller coaster” of intensive care : it’s important to understand that the period requiring critical care is a high-risk time marked by significant uncertainty, and this can be particularly difficult to cope with.
Learn more about the intensive care unit
Find out more about risks
Patients are so frail, and the uncertainty surrounding possible outcomes is so great, that healthcare providers tend to be very cautious when assessing the prognosis and the information they share with family members.
Learn more about medical information
One of the hallmarks of intensive care the intensive and continuous monitoring provided by medical equipment and a large healthcare team.
Healthcare providers continuously assess and reassess patients’ health status, considering the expected benefits of ongoing treatments and the risks these treatments may pose. Their primary goal is to tailor care to the individual needs of the patient and to always act in the patient’s best interest, taking into account the patient’s wishes and preferences even when they are unable to express them. The information shared by family members is useful for assessing the patient’s health status prior to admission to the ICU, and thus for evaluating the potential benefits they may derive from intensive treatments.
Learn more about the role of family members
The concept of “weaning ”:
The treatments used in intensive care can have significant consequences. It is therefore important to carefully weigh their potential benefits and risks before initiating highly invasive therapies, and to regularly reassess whether they remain necessary over time. Whenever possible, healthcare professionals try to “wean” patients off medications, life-support machines and other forms of assistance. As soon as the patient’s condition allows, the team works to reduce and discontinue invasive treatments in order to limit the risk of complications.Thus, a patient’s awakening often occurs after several attempts to reduce or stop sedation.
Learn more about the patient’s experience
Treatment strategies therefore depend not only on the patient’s state of health, but also on their ability to benefit from the available treatments and on their wishes.
Learn more about treatment decisions