Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Why are ICU's Cruel and Cut-Throat?

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

Now, one of the comments that we’re getting all the time is that ICUs are very cruel and they’re very unethical and they have no morals. And first off, I worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries and I have worked for over five years as a nurse unit manager in intensive care. And I have been professionally consulting and advocating for families in intensive care for the last nine years, coming close to 10 years. So, I’m talking to families in intensive care all over the world every day.

Now, whilst I can totally resonate with what our readers and clients are saying that ICUs are cruel, unethical, and they have no morals. I can agree with that, but I also need to really point out that there are a lot of good things happening in ICU, and we never hear about it. People leave ICU alive, and they move on to the next phase of their lives. They go back home, they live and they go back to their lives. But we don’t hear about it but that is definitely what’s happening.

I guess what I’ve noticed, sort of, in the last few years in ICU, and the more I understood about the politics and the business cases and where the money is flowing and all of that, then I realized, “Okay, there are many unethical things happening in ICU”, just simply because of money, just simply because of some doctors’ opinions about quality of life. And some doctors clearly dismissing what families in intensive care want and what’s important for them.

So, that was one of the main drivers for me to not only start Intensive Care Hotline, but then also start Intensive Care at Home because there are alternatives. There’s a much better way to look after some ICU patients. Give them quality of life at home, give them quality of end-of-life at home, get them out of ICU and so forth.

So, why are ICUs cut-throat, cruel, unethical, and have no morals? Again, it comes down to limited resources, comes down to limited finances, or what I should even say, perceived limited resources, because I also believe a lot of it comes simply down to professional advocacy and advocating for what is right for people.

So, what are the strategies to counteract the cruelty of some ICUs? Well, the strategies are really to get help and to have a professional advocate on your side that can ask the right questions because 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. And if you are armed with that knowledge, your life will be so much easier because all of a sudden, the intensive care team understands that you have help on your side. And they understand that you are a force to be reckoned with. And that is really important.

Most families in intensive care get walked all over, because again, 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. They don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

So, yes, whilst you are right when you say that some ICUs can be very cruel, unethical, and amoral but that’s something you can’t control. What you can control is starting to ask the right questions and get professional help. That’s the thing that you can control, and you should start controlling that from now on, so you don’t have to worry too much about what ICUs are doing. Focus more on what you can do.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care, go to intensivecarehotline.com. Contact 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 at intensivecaresupport.org.

If you need a medical record review for your loved one in intensive care or after intensive care, or for yourself, contact us as well.

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Thanks for watching.

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