Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making fast, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!
In last week’s blog I gave away “The 5 things you didn’t know you needed doing whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!” You can read, watch or listen to last week’s update here.
In this week’s blog I want to give you “The 3 ways on how to ALWAYS be one step ahead of the Intensive Care team, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care”
If one of your loved Family members has been admitted to Intensive Care with critical illness, you would have found by now that the Intensive Care team is running the show. Given the situation you, your Family and your critically ill loved one are in, you feel stressed, challenged, overwhelmed, anxious, out of your comfort zone, you feel vulnerable and you have no idea what lies ahead.
Worst of all, the Intensive Care team is driving the bus and you feel like you have no control, power and influence during this stressful and challenging situation! More often than not, the Intensive Care team is talking over you and at you, rather than entering into a real dialogue and discussion. The situation you are finding yourself in is anything but comforting.
Furthermore, the Intensive Care team is talking “Intensive Care language” that you often don’t understand and they often don’t make the effort to explain things to you in simple and plain language. It’s all part of the ball game and if you don’t know what to do and how to position your self, the Intensive Care team holds all the power and is controlling the situation.
What an awful situation to be in. Not only is one of your loved Family members critically ill in Intensive Care, the worst feeling is probably that you’re at the mercy of the Intensive Care team. That is if you follow conventional wisdom and if you do what 99% of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care do.
Wouldn’t it be good to have control, power and influence whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care? Wouldn’t it even be better if you were ALWAYS one step ahead of the Intensive Care team whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You might say, “Patrik, don’t be stupid, there’s no way I can always be one step ahead of the Intensive Care team. They have all the power, knowledge and control”.
Well, know this. I have worked in Intensive Care for more than 15 years in three different countries and I have seen it all. I have seen the games the Intensive Care teams are playing to keep Families of critically ill Patients at arms’ length. I have seen Intensive Care teams “selling” to Patients and their Families “that a withdrawal of treatment” or a “limitation of treatment” is in “the best interest” of your critically ill loved one, because he or she wouldn’t have any quality of life anyway”. As if anyone besides you and your Family knows what’s “best” or in the “best interest” of your critically ill loved one.
Recommended resources:
- Little do those Families know that the Intensive Care team thinks that the ongoing treatment of your critically ill loved one is not seen as something financially viable or is seen as too expensive.
- Little do those Families know that the Intensive Care team is desperately needing empty beds to accommodate new admissions.
- Little do those Families know that the treating Consultant/ Physician of the Intensive Care team has no interest in continuing treatment, because their loved one’s case and treatment is not of any interest for the Consultant’s/ Physician’s latest research thesis.
So, put your preconceived notions about Intensive Care aside and come with me into the world where I show you “The 3 steps on how to ALWAYS be one step ahead of the Intensive Care team, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care”.
1. Don’t buy into the “conventional wisdom” of 99% of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care who believe that they have no power, no control and no influence. Your job as a starting point is to know and believe that you can have control, power and influence and therefore position yourself accordingly.
Listen, most people out there, when they see a Doctor or a Nurse in Intensive Care think that they “must be smart” and “they must be so accomplished”. That’s because society has doctors and nurses allowed to think and act that way. Doctors and nurses are only humans and make mistakes too.
Therefore, especially in this day and age where the Internet gives you access to tons of good information that opens up “insider” knowledge previously not accessible to common people like you and me, you can get yourself in a strong position by accessing that information and applying it to your situation. The believe that you can have control, power and influence will get you one step ahead, because the Intensive care team doesn’t expect you to act that way, because most Families of critically ill Patients feel intimidated. Act confident and act as if you have control, power and influence and you will see the dynamics shift in your favour!
2. 99% of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care think that with the specialized knowledge the Intensive Care team has that they are unable to match their expertise and they therefore don’t question!
Know this: You don’t need to have the clinical expertise of the Intensive Care team and you don’t need to know the details of your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis. What you need to know however and what get’s you one step ahead is to know about the moving parts in Intensive Care and what’s happening “behind the scenes” so to speak. What’s happening “behind the scenes” has often a much bigger impact on how the Intensive Care team positions themselves and how they position your critically ill loved one’s prognosis and diagnosis, especially if it’s a negative prognosis and diagnosis!
3. Especially in very difficult situations where the Intensive Care team suggests to “withdraw treatment” or if your critically ill loved one is a long-term Patient in Intensive Care, you need to have maximum control, power and influence, because otherwise the Intensive Care team will press on with their agenda and they will walk all over you, if you’re not one step ahead!
“Withdrawal of treatment” and/or “withdrawal of life support” are highly emotionally charged situations and very rarely is there consensus between the Intensive Care team and Families. Furthermore, another highly emotionally charged situation that Families and critically ill Patients find themselves in is if their loved one is a long-term Patient in Intensive Care(often ventilator dependent with Tracheostomy).
So, you may wonder how you can be one step ahead of the Intensive Care team in those emotionally highly charged situation, where they hold all the perceived power?
As I mentioned before, in order to be one step ahead you need to ask the right questions and they are often not clinical questions. They are questions that relate to the moving parts in an Intensive Care Unit and those moving parts are invisible for you and your Family in most cases. Decisions that the Intensive Care team is making are often based on what’s happening behind the scenes and they happen to have a major impact on how the Intensive Care team positions themselves and your critically ill loved one’s prognosis and diagnosis.
How do you get all that insider knowledge in a short period of time and how do you know what things influence the Intensive Care team’s positioning about my critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis?
More importantly, how can you leverage your level of PEACE OF MIND, power, influence and control whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You’ll get to that all important feeling of power, control and influence when you download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report NOW by entering your email below! In Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll learn quickly how to get real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Our FREE reports help you with in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is dying in Intensive Care! Sign up for your FREE membership and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now!
In your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT you’ll learn how to speak the “secret” Intensive Care language so that the doctors and the nurses know straight away that you are an insider and that you know and understand what’s really happening in Intensive Care!
In your FREE reports you’ll also discover
- How to ask the doctors and the nurses the right questions
- Discover the many competing interests in Intensive Care and how your critically ill loved one’s treatment may depend on those competing interests
- How to eliminate fear, frustration, stress, struggle and vulnerability even if your loved one is dying
- 5 “killer” tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence in your situation
- You’ll get real world examples that you can easily adapt to your and your critically ill loved one’s situation
- How to stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team and how you will be seen as equals
- You’ll get crucial ‘behind the scenes’ insight so that you know and understand what is really happening in Intensive Care
- How you need to manage doctors and nurses in Intensive Care(it’s not what you think)
Thank you for tuning into this week’s “blog” and I’ll see you again in another update next week!
Make sure you also check out our “your questions answered” section where we answer your questions or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!
Also check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
Sincerely, your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
Related Articles: