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 I have an email from Rebecca who says,

“Hi Patrik,

My mom is in the ICU with septic shock. The doctors are saying it doesn’t look good, but they said that last November when my mom had a septic shock before, and my mom recovered. I am not in fantasy land but I’m wondering if there’s always an ulterior motive to get the patient out of an ICU room.

From, Rebecca.”

Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for sharing your mom’s situation.

So, let me break this down for you. Obviously, your mom is in septic shock. She’s probably intubated, she’s probably on antibiotics, she’s probably on inotropes or vasopressor, lactate might be rising, she might be at risk, or she is at risk of going into kidney failure, and you might have seen the same last year in November. Now, when you look at the research, the mortality rate for sepsis or for septic shock is higher compared to other conditions when patients go into ICU. So, your mom must have done well last year in November. On a bigger scale, about 90% of intensive care patients survive but that’s not broken down into the conditions.

Like I said, the mortality rate is higher for sepsis or septic shock compared to other conditions in ICU. So, they’re doing all the right things, they’re giving her all the right treatment. Like I said, probably on antibiotics that will be screening where the sepsis coming from. Where is it originating from? Is it from the lungs? Is it from the bloodstream? Is it from the urine? Is it somewhere else? Then, hopefully they can target with the right antibiotics or antifungals or a virus or whatever the origin of the sepsis is, but a septic shock can make your patient severely critically ill, and it can take days or weeks to recover.

So, that leads me to the second part of your email where you’re saying I’m not in fantasy land but wondering if there’s always an ulterior motive to get the patient out of an ICU room. So, here’s the bigger picture. A bed in ICU will cost around $5000 to $6000 per bed day that makes it the most expensive bed in a hospital. It also makes it the most sought-after bed in a hospital. It also makes ICU staff, doctors, and nurses, everyone that’s working in ICU the most sought-after staff in a hospital or in healthcare.

So, there is real pressure on ICU beds because of the dynamics that I just explained, from my experience after having worked in intensive care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care all over the world since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com.

You can look up our testimonial section, what our clients say about the results we’ve been getting for them. You can look up our client podcast where we have interviews from clients about the results that we’re getting. We have been saving lives for many years with our consulting and advocacy.

But coming back to your question, is there always an ulterior motive? So, here is what I believe. The worst-case scenario for an ICU is to look after a patient indefinitely with an uncertain outcome and many patients in ICU fit that criterion. You just don’t know what’s going to happen, you have to throw a lot of resources at someone. In the meantime, there’s patients queuing up wanting an ICU bed, surgery might get canceled because there are no ICU beds, and emergency departments might be on bypass because they can’t admit patients into ICU. In the meantime, there are “bed blocks,” and your mom, of course, is not. I would not want to label anyone in ICU a bed block, they are humans that need critical care treatment. But from a hospital perspective, they are often seen as “bed blocks.”

Financially, here is what’s the best-case scenario for an ICU, short turnover high payments, that’s financially viable for them. You can say that the longer someone is in ICU, the payments are becoming less, making it less financially viable for ICUs to look after those patients plus the added-on issue around not having ICU beds available that are generally speaking, filled in no time. So, that is the bigger picture.

So, you could argue that’s an ulterior motive. I just call it, it’s a reality because hospitals are running businesses at the end of the day. It’s just a reality and you just need to be mindful of it. It’s not good or bad, it just is, and you just need to be mindful of it and you just got to steer the dynamics accordingly. That’s all it is, and you got to get a second opinion, which we can give you here at intensivecarehotline.com, it’s just a matter of being conscious of it and then manage around it.

The problem is that 99.9% of families don’t even know that they can manage. They just go along to get along with often detrimental outcomes for their family members because you want to be in a position where you can make informed decisions, you have peace of mind, control, power, and influence so that your loved one gets best care and treatment.

Like I said, 99.9% of families in intensive care don’t even think or believe they can manage intensive care teams. If you don’t believe that, there’s no point in you even watching this video. You can stop there, put your head in the sand and let people walk all over you, but you’ve come to the right place if you want to take a stand, if you want to turn things around and if you want to make sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.

So, Rebecca, I hope that explains about your mom’s situation and about the bigger picture of what’s happening in ICU and the dynamics that are at play.

Because we get so many questions for families in intensive care, that’s why we created the membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care and you can get access to it at intensivecarehotline.com by clicking on the membership link or you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. You also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos in the membership that will help you, once again, to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly, but I also talk to doctors and nurses directly, which will make all the difference because that’s when things will change for you once they know you have someone that can give you a second opinion, that can manage intensive care teams. Once again, most families don’t even think that’s possible, but it is possible. Just have a look at our testimonial section and our podcast section.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can have a second opinion in real time. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams so, once again, that you have clinical representation, but more importantly that you have a strategy. Once again, 99% of your family is in intensive, they have no strategy whatsoever. They just, again, go along to get along rather than having a strategy making sure the loved one gets best care and treatment.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com with your questions.

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

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care.

Related Articles:

2nd Discharge to LTAC from ICU, the Madness Continues! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: What if My Loved One has a Poor Prognosis in ICU? What are the Options, is it Black and White? Feeling Forced to Make a Decision for My Loved One in Intensive Care! Help! The ICU is Reluctant to Remove My Husband’s Tracheostomy After Stroke! Quick Tip for Families in ICU! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: I Want My Ventilated Mother Being Transferred to Another ICU! Is this Possible?