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

So, today’s tip is about a frustration that one of our readers shared with us, and our reader says, “The ICU staff is in a hurry and giving up on my husband.” And that’s not an uncommon frustration we are getting here at intensivecarehotline.com. So many families in intensive care, when they first see their loved ones in intensive care, they realize that the ICU teams can be very negative right from the start. And it is really important for you to understand the concept of intensive care and what’s really happening in intensive care and how intensive care teams sometimes position your loved one’s prognosis and diagnosis. So, you got to read between the lines.

Now, first off, ICU teams cannot just give up on your critically ill loved one unless they are what are referred to in a real end-of-life situation, which means no treatment, no surgery and nothing can save your loved one’s life. That is from my perspective and experience, after having worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries, where I also worked as a nurse unit manager for over five years, that is a real end-of-life situation.

Most of the time when intensive care teams want to give up, it is really a perceived end-of-life situation. I’ve made countless videos about, “The difference between real and perceived end-of-life situations.” And again, a perceived end-of-life situation means the intensive care team has the perception that your loved one may die. And again, it’s a perception, it’s not reality. The reality is that 90% of intensive care patients approximately survive and there are research papers out there to confirm what I’m saying. So, therefore, the odds are in your loved one’s favor.

And because we are getting frustrations like these all the time, I feel compelled to make this video because you should never give up. You should get a second opinion. You should advocate for your critically ill loved one. You should contact us so we can break it all down for you because what we are always finding when families contact us, intensive care teams only tell you half of the story unless you are asking all the right questions.

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 intensive care.

So, forget all about the negativity and forget about the staff being in a hurry. You need to get that second opinion. Let someone look at medical records. We do that here at intensivecarehotline.com. Let me talk to the doctors and to the nurses there, and then find out what is really going on. And then we can often very quickly turn situations around and making sure that families in intensive care get peace of mind, can make informed decisions, and get control, power, and influence.  Because I know from experience, that when your loved one goes into intensive care, first, you feel like you’re losing all control. You are bombarded by the negativity, you’re bombarded by the machines and the medications that are going on, and you have no real clue of what’s going on. And again, this is what we can exactly help you with here at intensivecarehotline.com.

We can give you perspective and we can break things down for you step-by-step. It’s one thing for the ICU team to say they want to give up. It’s another thing to look at all the clinical details that are happening and breaking it all down step-by-step and giving you options, maybe how treatment can be approached differently, or things they haven’t told you, treatment options, they haven’t told you, maybe a transfer to another hospital is needed. Sometimes in situations like that.

Often it really comes down to simple advocacy and reminding intensive care teams that they have a duty of care for you and your family.  And often when they want to give up, quite simply, they want to save money. They need the ICU bed because ICU beds are in such high demand and there’s not enough ICU nursing and ICU medical staff. It’s as simple as that.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

Now, 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].

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

Now, if you need a medical record review while your loved one is in intensive care, you should contact us as well. We can review your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU in real time. And we can also review medical records after intensive care, especially if you’re having unanswered questions if you need closure, or if you’re simply suspecting medical negligence. But please make sure we can help you review medical records in real time because that’s when you will have the most leverage. After your loved one has gone from intensive care, you don’t really have much leverage left. You need to use a second opinion while you have your loved one in intensive care.

Now, subscribe to my YouTube   channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, share the video with your friends and families, click the like button, click the notification bell, and comment below what’s your questions and insights from this video.

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care.