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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can 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 last week’s blog I showed you “How you and your Family are perceived is directly linked to the care your critically ill loved one is receiving or not receiving in Intensive Care”.
If you haven’t read the blog, you can read, watch or listen to it here.
In this week’s blog I want to show you
“The 5 reasons why you should not trust the Intensive Care team blindly if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care”.
If your loved one has been admitted to Intensive Care with critical illness, chances are that you are out of your comfort zone and chances are that you feel, think or see that you have no control, you have no power and that you can’t influence any decision making.
You are probably very nervous and anxious and you probably haven’t slept or eaten properly in the last few days, as you feel very vulnerable, stressed, challenged, frustrated and overwhelmed by the experience of having your loved one critically ill in Intensive Care.
And depending on the diagnosis and the prognosis of your critically ill loved one, you may not necessarily feel like things are getting better and you may feel like things are getting worse.
Furthermore, you also feel, think or see that with the situation for your loved being so grim that you have lost control, power and influence and other people are running the show and may deliberately exclude you from the decision making process!
It’s a very bad and negative feeling to have and there are many reasons why you shouldn’t take the things that you see and that you and you’re family are being told by the Intensive Care team for face value! In fact you should ALWAYS make up your own mind, irrespective whether you have any knowledge about Intensive Care or not.
More importantly there are 5 distinct reasons why you should not trust the Intensive Care team blindly and the Intensive Care team of course has no interest in letting you look behind the scenes and give you insight into the politics and the intrigue of an Intensive Care Unit that may heavily impact on how the Intensive Care team may position your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis.
Those 5 distinct reasons may also impact on the care and treatment your critically ill loved one is receiving or not receiving!
So let’s look at those 5 distinct reasons and why you should not trust the Intensive Care team blindly and why you should always make up your own mind, irrespective of whether you are a doctor or a nurse!
Reason number 1: The Financial viability of your loved one’s admission to Intensive Care
The Hospital sector and Intensive Care in particular is a business and it’s often run as a business. Whether your critically ill loved one is privately insured or whether your critically ill loved one falls under a government scheme, your loved one’s diagnosis will be assessed and weighted against economic criteria and therefore the diagnosis and prognosis might get “sold” to you according to how the Intensive Care Unit thinks your loved one’s admission and treatment would make economic sense to the Hospital or the Intensive Care Unit. Therefore, you need to ask whether your critically ill loved one’s admission would be eating into the budget of the Intensive Care Unit or whether they think they will be losing money. Or saying it differently is treating your critically ill loved one financially viable for the Intensive Care Unit? Is going through a lengthy and costly stay in Intensive Care in the best interest of the Intensive Care Unit? And that’s basically where the rubber hits the road. Unfortunately this is not about your critically ill loved one. This is about the Intensive Care Unit’s agenda and their interests. And you and your Family need to be acutely aware of this, because otherwise other people will be controlling you, your Family and most importantly they will be controlling the destiny of your critically ill loved one!
Reason number 2: Other Patients awaiting admission to Intensive Care
Know this. Beds in an Intensive Care Unit are a scarcity and are in demand. Not only are the physical beds a scarcity and in demand. Intensive Care staff, doctors and nurses are a scarcity and in demand as well!
Therefore, the Intensive Care team has an acute awareness that usually a bed in Intensive Care never gets ‘cold’ so to speak. If a Patient is being discharged from Intensive Care, the next admission is usually not far away and around the corner.
Therefore, if your critically ill loved one is in a situation where the Intensive Care team thinks that he or she may need prolonged therapy in Intensive Care with an uncertain outcome, (Related Article What you and your Family need to do if your critically ill loved one is very sick in Intensive Care and faces an uncertain future with the possibility of future Quality of life impairments) the Intensive Care team might tell you that the situation of your critically ill loved one is pretty grim and they may suggest to you to either withdraw or limit treatment.
(Related Article Follow this proven 5 step process on how to be in control and influential if your loved one is a long-term Patient in Intensive Care or is facing treatment limitations in Intensive Care)
The Intensive Care team may in fact be hesitant and reluctant to invest precious resources that they think would be better invested in other Patients awaiting admission to Intensive Care. Again you need to have a heightened awareness that Intensive Care beds are precious resources and in demand!
Armed with that knowledge you can then question why your critically ill loved one’s prognosis and diagnosis may “look so grim”, whereas in reality, the Intensive Care team does not want to invest the time, the money and the resources in the treatment and recovery of your critically ill loved one’s recovery!
Reason number 3: A negative and limited mindset that is holding the Intensive Care team back from achieving what’s possible
This is a big one and again something you need to be acutely aware of. After having worked in many Intensive Care Units around the world I have seen massive differences in mindsets in Intensive Care Units and I worked in some Intensive Care Units where the Intensive Care team had a very positive, Patient focused and abundant mindset, where beating the odds was built in their day to day activities.
On the other hand I have worked in other Intensive Care units where a negative and limiting mindset was part of a generally negative culture and unfortunately beating the odds was not part of their culture and mindset.
Therefore find out what the culture is in the unit your critically ill loved one is in. You can do so by reading this article here What the doctors and the nurses behaviour in Intensive Care is telling you about the culture in a unit
Recommended resources:
Reason number 4: The Intensive Care team may think it’s not “sexy” to treat your critically ill loved one
That’s a strong statement to make and I make it anyway, because again, my experience in more than 15 years Intensive Care Nursing in three different countries has shown me that the culture in an Intensive Care Unit is generally a good indicator when it comes to how the Intensive Care Unit positions your critically ill loved one’s prognosis, diagnosis and the treatment that goes along with it.
But what do I exactly mean by “sexy”? By “sexy” I mean that the Intensive Care team will be looking at things such as the age of your critically ill loved one, as well as Family circumstances.
Is your critically ill loved one 25 years of age or 85 years of age? Is your critically ill loved one going back to a loving family if they survive their ordeal in Intensive Care?
I personally think that age should not make any difference in the treatment, prognosis and diagnosis of a Patient in Intensive Care and again my experience has shown me that it does and therefore you need to give your input and you need to counteract the Intensive Care team’s positioning with your positioning that is stronger than theirs, by being a strong advocate for your loved one!
Related article:
Reason number 5: Know that Intensive Care is a very complex area and decision making is rarely straight forward
Again, when you’re talking to the Intensive Care team, you may hear differing opinions. Therefore it’s important that you don’t get sidetracked by differing opinions. It’s extremely important that you and your Family have your own opinion that is relevant and you mustn’t be intimidated by the Intensive Care team.
It’s very important that you do your own research and that you’re well informed. It’s also important that you stay positive! How to stay positive whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
It’s also very important that you gather plenty of knowledge yourself so that you and your Family are in a strong position to have control, power and influence whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!
How can you get PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence really quickly, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You’ll get to that all important feeling of power, control 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 get real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Our FREE reports help you with in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is dying in Intensive Care! Sign up for your FREE membership and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now!
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 reports 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 “killer” 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 we answer your questions or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!
Also check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
Your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
Related Articles:
- The 3 most dangerous mistakes that you are making but you are unaware of, if your loved one is a critically ill Patient in Intensive Care
- How to always achieve your goals whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- Why you must make up your own mind about your critically ill loved one’s situation in Intensive Care even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse!
- Follow this proven 5 step process on how to be in control and influential if your loved one is a long-term Patient in Intensive Care
- How to quickly take control and have real power and influence if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- Be more selfish if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 3 quick steps on how to position and prepare yourself well mentally, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- How to stay positive if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- How to get what you want whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 5 steps to become a better negotiator if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 5 Ways to have control, power and influence while your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 6 phrases you should never say when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
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- Family overjoyed as top court rules doctors must seek consent before taking a patient off life support
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- What the doctors and the nurses behaviour in Intensive Care is telling you about the culture in a unit
- How to take control if your loved one has a severe brain injury and is critically ill in Intensive Care
- Family Meetings in Intensive Care or the Elephant in the Room
- What you need to do if your loved one is dying in Intensive Care(part one)
- What you need to do if your loved one is dying in Intensive Care(part two)
- How INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM Can Help You
- What you and your Family need to do if your critically ill loved one is very sick in Intensive Care and faces an uncertain future