A patient in intensive care often goes through a period of coma, either because he or she needs to be sedated (put to sleep) in order to be able to treat the illness, or because of a neurological event (illness, trauma). This coma period, while inevitable in many situations, means that the patient will have little or no recollection of what he or she has been through on waking up.
To this may be added one or more periods of confusion around the time of awakening, when the patient may be delirious and hallucinate. This is linked to a number of causes, such as a serious infection, certain medications, lack of deep sleep, disruption of the nycthemeral rhythm (day/night rhythm), etc.
This amnesia, known as the "hole-rea", can cover a large part of the intensive care care hospitalization, and will be extremely disturbing for the patient: on waking up, he or she will experience the consequences of a hospitalization that he or she will remember little or not at all, in bits and pieces, or through memories of dreams, nightmares or hallucinations. Writing an ICU diary is a good way to help patients regain a foothold and reappropriate their history.
For family and friends
Being close to someone in intensive care is a source of stress, anxiety and sometimes depression. Writing an ICU diary can help you to verbalize your feelings and unload your stress, but also, if the diary is shared with the care team, to read and reread the messages written by the team and thusimprove your understanding of the situation by assimilating the information at your own pace.
Relatives of patients hospitalized in intensive care often find themselves at a loss when it comes to helping their loved one. The ICU diary is a tool that has proved its effectiveness and can be a simple and extremely useful mission for your loved one. It also allows you to leave something with the patient, a paper presence, to keep them company in the absence of their loved ones.
Témoignage de Céline
Le journal de bord du point de vue des proches
Writing an ICU diary for your loved one can also help caregivers understand you better if you leave some of the messages accessible to everyone. This can help them to better understand and respond to your loved one's anxieties. It can also enable them to detect certain misunderstandings and adjust their messages. The ICU diary is also a good way for caregivers to personalize their care, which is often very satisfying!