The 10 signs to look for if your critically ill loved one is in the right Intensive Care Unit!(Part 2)

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives for Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can make informed decisions, 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 the last blog I talked about Part 1 of

The 10 signs to look for if your critically ill loved one is in the right Intensive Care Unit!(Part 1)

You can check out last week’s blog by clicking on the link here.

In this week’s blog I want to talk about Part 2 of

The 10 signs to look for if your critically ill loved one is in the right Intensive Care Unit!(Part 2)

Before I get into today’s topic and before I continue from last week’s blog I want to share a quote with you that I wrote on today’s topic and the quote says

Critical illness and Intensive Care unfortunately doesn’t come with a manual for either the Patients or their families!

There is no “cheat sheet” handed out to you by the Intensive Care team in how you should conduct yourself or what you can expect when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

However the fact of the matter is that either implicitly or explicitly the Intensive Care team expects you to respond to their “perceived power” and their “perceived authority”. They again, implicitly or explicitly communicate to you and your family that they are “running the show” and that they are the ones “driving the bus” so to speak!

It’s therefore that 99% of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care respond to the intimidation from the Intensive Care team and therefore don’t make informed decisions, don’t get peace of mind, don’t have control, don’t have power and don’t have influence!

They stay uninformed for a number of reasons and most of all because they put “blind faith” in the Intensive Care team’s ability to do the right things and always act “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one!

My mission here at INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM is to give you the tools, the strategies and the mindset so that you can make informed decisions, get peace of mind, get power, get control and get influence so that you, your family and your critically ill loved one get the outcomes, the care, the treatment and the best shot at life that you deserve!

Let’s get into today’s topic and today I want to give you the remaining 5 tips for “The 10 signs to look for if your critically ill loved one is in the right Intensive Care Unit!(Part2)”

Again, you can check out the first five signs of whether your critically ill loved one is in the right Intensive Care Unit here.

The Intensive Care team isn’t hiding behind being “busy”!

Yes, Intensive Care Units can be very busy, hectic and frantic places don’t get me wrong and if your critically ill loved one is either

very unstable and in a very critical condition

in a life threatening situation

not “waking up” after an induced coma

in Intensive Care for long-term treatments and long-term stays (including long-term ventilation)

having a severe(traumatic) head or brain injury

threatened with an “NFR”(Not for resuscitation) or “DNR”(Do not resuscitate) order

In a situation where the Intensive Care team suggests a “withdrawal of treatment” or a “limitation of treatment” as being “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one

approaching their end of life in Intensive Care

then there is a very good chance that the doctors and the nurses will be busy.

But that’s besides the point. A good and healthy sign is that the Intensive Care team hasn’t forgotten about you and your family. Hopefully they do everything in their power to provide the best care and treatment for your critically ill loved one, however “being busy” is no excuse to forget about you and your family!

Even if they are busy they need to keep you and your family informed at all times and keep communication open!

If they are doing that you also know that they have nothing to hide!

The Intensive Care team is aware of their limitations and openly communicates them to you!

Let’s just say your critically ill loved one is in a smaller hospital and a smaller Intensive Care Unit, there are often limitations for what they can provide and what they can offer compared to bigger Hospitals and bigger Intensive Care Units!

Therefore their scope, their experience, their equipment and their level of expertise including their skills tend to be limited.

It’s a very healthy sign if they openly communicate their limitations to you and your family and it’s an even better sign if they are prepared to make the arrangements that are necessary to get your critically ill loved one into a bigger ICU with more skills, more experience, better equipment and so on if and when appropriate!

You should therefore get a feel early on if your critically ill loved one is in the right environment given their current circumstances!

If you have any doubts about the skills, the expertise, the equipment and also the mindset of the people in the Intensive Care unit, you should make enquiries into other Hospitals and Intensive Care Units. If you need help to do that and you don’t know where to start, I can help you with making the right selection. Just shoot me an email to [email protected] or give me a call.

It’s also a healthy sign in a bigger Intensive Care Unit with many beds, many staff, state of the art equipment etc… if they openly communicate their limitations to you. There are of course situations where no fancy equipment, no surgery and no cure can save your critically ill loved one’s life and there are unfortunate situations where your critically ill loved one may approach their end of life in Intensive Care! However, the Intensive Care team should openly communicate to you and your family and they should also inform you about the why’s, if’s and but’s . Again it comes down to openness, transparency and respect!

You should also always, always take your own sword of discrimination and you should always, always make sure that the Intensive Care team is not making any decisions because if their own self-interest. This is especially important when it comes to end of life situations and/or withdrawal of treatment situations.

Related article/ video

The difference between “real” and “perceived” end of life situations when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! life situation!

The Intensive Care team gets you involved in decision making!

I could give you countless examples in Intensive Care where the Intensive Care team has “sold” families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care on a “withdrawal of treatment” or a “limitation of treatment” as being “in the best interest” of their critically ill loved one!

Intensive Care teams can be very shrewd and adept when it comes to “selling” what’s “in the best interest” of a critically ill Patient!

Think about this for a minute. The Intensive Care team most of the time doesn’t know you, your family and your critically ill loved one!

They are in a position of “perceived power” and “perceived authority” if you let them take that position!

Recommended:

THE 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF THE MEDICAL TEAM IN INTENSIVE CARE WANTS TO “LIMIT TREATMENT”, WANTS TO “WITHDRAW TREATMENT” OR “WITHDRAW LIFE SUPPORT” OR WANTS TO ISSUE A “DNR” (DO NOT RESUSCITATE) OR AN “NFR” (NOT FOR RESUSCITATION) ORDER FOR YOUR CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE!

If you do let the Intensive Care team take that position of “perceived power” and “perceived authority” you have given away your power on a platter, if you had any in the first place!

You and your family are therefore in a very vulnerable situation from the start, if you get your positioning wrong and it could quite literally be lethal if you don’t claim your power from the start!

It’s a healthy sign if the Intensive Care team gets you involved in decision making and it’s a healthy sign if they decide with you together what’s “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one!

What’s “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one should never be a result of what’s happening “behind the scenes” in Intensive Care and it should never be a result of the politics, the hierarchies or the bed management situation in Intensive Care!

You need to look out for those signs and if you spot those signs you need to run and look for alternatives!

The Intensive Care team is looking for alternatives if they can’t help you and your family!

Many families in Intensive Care who read my blog and seek out advice come to me because their loved one is ventilated with a tracheostomy in Intensive Care or in LTAC(=Long term acute care). Their loved one is often stuck on a ventilator with a tracheostomy and can’t be weaned off the ventilator quickly.

Most Intensive Care Units are at their wits end when it comes to dealing with and treating long-term ventilated adults and children with tracheostomies.

A good, Patient and family focused Intensive Care Unit will admit their limitations when it comes to long-term ventilation and tracheostomy and they will help you look for alternative solutions.

The best alternative solution that I’ve come across when it comes to long-term ventilation with tracheostomy is home care.

A good Intensive Care team and a good Intensive Care Unit is up to date with the latest developments that are genuinely aligned with your loved ones best interest when they are stuck in Intensive Care on a ventilator with tracheostomy!

The latest developments in this area are Intensive Home Care nursing services that can provide the same level of care at home than an Intensive Care Unit can provide when it comes to long-term ventilation with tracheostomy!

You should check out INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME for more information when it comes to Patient and family friendly alternatives for long-term ventilated adults and children with tracheostomies!

Check out INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME

The same applies to end of life situations in Intensive Care. Rather than “telling” you and your family that your critically ill loved one is going to die in Intensive Care, they will inform you that palliative care at home might be an option such as INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME.

Again it’s all about talking to people, getting them informed about possible and genuine alternatives and making sure that you have a choice to decide what’s “in the best interest” FOR YOUR critically ill loved one!

The Intensive Care team respects your need to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power and influence!

Most Intensive Care teams are so used to “get what they want” and they are so used to implicitly or explicitly dominate families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care with their “perceived power” and their “perceived authority” that they don’t respect your wishes at all!

Intensive Care teams really do believe that they “know what’s best” or what’s “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one at all times!

Given that you have come thus far and given that you are a reader of this blog you know by now that you can’t let things happen to you, but that you need to be proactive and take action to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power and influence!

It’s a very healthy sign if the Intensive Care team respects your need for staying in power and control at all times. Anything else is a sign for the Intensive Care team not respecting you, your family and your critically ill loved one!

It’s also a sign that the Intensive Care team is making decisions that are a direct result of what’s happening “behind the scenes” in Intensive Care! It’s a sign that the politics, the limited resources, the financial budget etc… are way more important than your need to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, get control, get power and get influence!

How can you become the best advocate for your critically ill loved one, make informed decisions, get PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence quickly, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?

You get to that all important feeling of making informed decisions, get PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER 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 make informed decisions, get PEACE OF MIND, real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” Report gives you in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is even dying in Intensive Care! Sign up and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now by entering your email below!

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 report 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 mind blowing 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 I answer your questions or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!

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Also check out our Ebook section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 counselling with me via Skype or over the phone and via email by clicking on the email and phone counselling tabs on the top of the website!

This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!