Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So today’s tip is how families in intensive care should deal about the negativity of intensive care teams, because a lot of the inquiries that we’re getting are simply families telling us, how disappointed they are that ICU teams are negative, that they paint the doom and gloom scenario, and how should they deal with it and how can they verify that there’s no need for negativity? Well, that’s a great question to ask.

And predominantly it’s about looking at the research that’s out there. And the research suggests that approximately 90% of intensive care patients survive and leave intensive care alive. So, that’s number one. That’s the number one research you need to look at. Number two is look at what’s actually happening clinically.

So, what I mean by that is, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care, is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know.  They don’t know what to look for, they don’t know what questions to ask, they don’t know their rights, and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in an intensive care. So, what do I mean by that?

What we’re finding over and over again is that families in intensive care have absolutely no idea what’s happening clinically, and they don’t understand, and you can’t blame them because, you haven’t worked in intensive care like I have for over 20 years. And you need to really dive deep into what’s actually happening with your critically ill loved one. And unless you are able to break it down, like me and my team can, it’ll be very difficult for you to make sense out of what’s happening.

So, when we have the option to look at the clinical details, at prognosis, diagnosis, at ventilator settings,  blood results, x-ray results and basically talk to doctors and nurses and do a head to toe assessment, then we are able to give you options, provide you with a second opinion, and can educate you that, the doom and gloom is just a narrative that the ICU team is creating to keep the upper hand, to try and stay in control of the narrative, which their narrative is often, well, it’s all doom and gloom. And your loved one is going to die anyway, because that way it’s much easier for them to manage the dynamics and try to empty an ICU bed by literally letting your loved one die. And you got to counteract that by getting help, by getting a second opinion, by challenging them with all the right questions and with all the right clinical insights, again, which we can help you with here at intensivecarehotline.com.

So, those are the main two ways you can challenge the negative narrative or the doom and gloom. But there are many more ways. I’m just, scratching the surface here, that even with those two strategies, you can achieve a lot and you can turn situations around.

We’ve helped families in intensive care now for over 10 years, and we save many lives simply by advocating for families in intensive care for patients in intensive care, by asking the right questions and by making sure that ICU teams can’t get away with that negativity because there is no need for it.

So that is my quick tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care, go to intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org. There you have access to me and my team 24 hours a day in a membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related.

Also, if you need a medical record review, for your loved one in ICU, please contact us as well. We review medical records in ICU in real time, so get access to the medical records now and give access to us, and we help you review medical records in real time and provide you that second opinion in real time. We also review medical records after intensive care.

If you have unanswered questions, you need closure or you’re simply needing to verify that there has been medical negligence, we can help you with all of that. But again, we highly recommend we review medical records in real time so you can make a difference in real time, not when it’s too late.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, or what questions and insights you have from this video.

Thanks for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and I’ll talk to you in a few days.

Take care.