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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’ve shown you “How medical research dominates your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis, as well as the care and treatment your loved one is receiving or not receiving!”
You can check out last week’s BLOG here!
In this week’s BLOG I want to show you
“The 5 QUESTIONS you need to ask, if the Intensive Care team wants you to DONATE your loved one’s ORGANS in an END OF LIFE SITUATION!”
There are many situations in Intensive Care that are extremely challenging and frustrating and where you and your Family are facing your worst nightmares!
Many of those situations you experience when having a loved one critically ill in Intensive Care are nothing short of being a “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” experience and if you and your Family are not armed with good information, the truth of the matter is that you will have no PEACE OF MIND, no power, no control and no influence!
After more than 15 years Intensive Care nursing experience in three different countries and after I have literally worked with thousands of critically ill Patients and their Families, I have learned the hard way that often Intensive Care teams are not telling Families of critically ill Patients the full story, they are not fully and openly informing Families of critically ill Patients about what’s really happening!
The fact of the matter is that if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care, the things that are happening BEHIND THE SCENES in Intensive Care, one way or another always influence the positioning of the Intensive Care team! What’s happening “BEHIND THE SCENES” is also almost always influencing the positioning the Intensive Care team has about your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis!
What do I mean by that?
OK, let’s say your critically ill loved one has been admitted to Intensive Care where they are either
- very unstable and in a very critical condition
- in a life threatening situation
then you and your Family don’t know what to do really and you once again are faced with one of your biggest challenges and nightmares.
The Intensive Care team on the other hand, almost always has an agenda to drive and that agenda is mainly hidden from you and other Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care! It’s what I refer to as “BEHIND THE SCENES”!
What if the Intensive Care team asks you to donate the organs of your loved one?
So, let’s just say that you and your Family have been told by the Intensive Care team that your critically ill loved one is in an end of life situation and that they are going to die…
You are probably shocked, surprised, angry, despaired, maybe you did see it coming, but in anyways you and your Family will be in a situation that will test your strength, your faith, your beliefs and you will probably feel extremely challenged! You really are in a ONCE IN A LIFETIME situation…
Furthermore, the Intensive Care team is slowly but surely also trying to bring up the topic of organ donation.
It could be that your critically ill loved one is approaching their end of life and that they are young, so therefore the Intensive Care team sees an opportunity to harvest some organs.
Many Families of critically ill Patients feel overwhelmed not only that their loved one is dying, they also feel overwhelmed that they are now faced with a decision that they wish they didn’t have to make in the first place.
In almost all cases where a critically ill Patient in Intensive Care is approaching their end of life in Intensive Care and where a potential organ donation is considered, there are time constraints and often tight deadlines, as decisions about organ donation need to be made timely and often under a lot of pressure.
You and your Family are most likely ill prepared
Therefore, given that you and your Family are most likely ill prepared in those situations you need to have some idea on whether the decision you are going to make is the right decision, because you don’t want to make such an important decision about your loved one donating their organs or not lightly!
However, the fact of the matter is that in Intensive Care, Families of critically ill Patients are often thrown into those situations very quickly and without forewarning. There is often no time to think things through properly and Families of critically ill Patients are very uncertain about making a decision that they may regret later.
The Intensive Care team on the other hand has been in this situation numerous times and they almost always have a “game plan” so to speak in order to get what they want.
Therefore, it is very important that you as a Family member of a critically ill Patient have a “game plan” too.
Again, having been involved in dozens of situations where Families have been asked by the Intensive Care team whether they want to donate the organs of their critically ill loved one in an end of life situation, you need a road map, a guideline and some questions so that you can make sure that you are making the right decision in this challenging and ONCE IN A LIFETIME situation!
I have also found that after more than 15 years Intensive Care nursing in three different countries and after having worked with literally thousands of critically ill Patients and their Families that there are five distinct questions Families of critically ill Patients need to ask if the Intensive Care team asks them about donating the organs of their loved one. The questions that I am about to share with you are questions you need to ask either if your loved one is considered as “brain dead” or is considered for “donation after cardiac death”(DCD).
1. Do you feel COMPELLED to say “YES” because you feel obliged or even GUILTY to “give back” to the Intensive Care team, because they tried to work hard and tried to save your loved one’s life?
If you answered “YES” to this question, then you need to look at the psychology and the dynamics of the situation. Most Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care feel guilty and even obliged and also often overwhelmed by the perceived power and the perceived authority of the Intensive Care team.
The good news is that you can relax and that you don’t need to feel guilty or obliged and you don’t need to feel intimidated by the perceived power of the Intensive Care team! After all it’s only perceived and not even real!
During those stressful, difficult, overwhelming and “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situations, you and your Family need to look at the psychology of the situation and because you and your Family are so far outside of your comfort zone, it’s easy for the Intensive Care team to play the “emotional card” and guilt you into something you may regret later.
Again I have seen so many situations in Intensive Care where Families of critically ill Patients said “YES” to either organ donation, to “withdrawal of treatment” or to “limitation of treatment” only to regret those situations later! The reason they said “YES” in the first place was that they didn’t understand the dynamics and the psychology at play!
2. Is this end of life situation a real situation or is the Intensive Care team not trying everything they can?
As I said before, the positioning of your loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis by the Intensive Care team may be derived from what’s happening BEHIND THE SCENES!
For example, does the Intensive Care team really think continuing treatment on your critically ill loved one is hopeless or “futile”?
Or are there other factors coming into play such as that the Intensive Care team needing to free up a bed for other Patients that are waiting for admission to Intensive Care?
3. Does the Intensive Care team think that continuing treatment on your critically ill loved one would take up too many FINANCIAL and EMOTIONAL RESOURCES that they think are better spend on other Patients?
If the Intensive Care team continued treatment on your critically ill loved one, would it take weeks or months in order to get your loved one out of Intensive Care alive?
Do they therefore not want to invest the financial and emotional resources it would take to get your loved one on their way to recovery?
Do they see an organ donation and a discontinuation or “withdrawal of treatment” as the easier option?
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4. On the other hand, does the Intensive Care team think that by harvesting your loved one’s organs they can MAKE MONEY $$$ and do MEDICAL RESEARCH?
Does the Intensive Care team think that by harvesting your critically ill loved one’s organs that they have a better “business case”?
This could be that they give some of the organs to another Patient within their unit and continue more viable treatment there, make money or it could be that they give the organs to external Patients but admit another more “viable” Patient into the bed that your loved one currently occupies.
5. Does the Intensive Care team think that you and your Family are “EASY PREY” and do they think that you have taken everything for “FACE VALUE” and therefore you would be agreeable to whatever they suggest?
Have you and your Family really done your own research? Are you and your Family up to speed with everything that’s been happening?
Are you aware that Intensive Care is a multi Billion $$$ industry? Are you aware that you, your Family and your critically ill loved one are at the total mercy of the Intensive Care team if you don’t look “BEHIND THE SCENES” in Intensive Care?
Do you really understand what’s happening in Intensive Care? Do you and your Family want to belong to the 99% of Families who have no PEACE OF MIND, no power, no control and no influence? Or do you want to belong into that tiny 1% bracket of Families of critically ill Patients who actually have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence?
If so, how do you do that?
How can you have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You get to that all important feeling of PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER 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 PEACE OF MIND, real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” Report gives you in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is even dying in Intensive Care! Sign up and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now by entering your email below!
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 report 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!
Sincerely, your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
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- The 10 COMMANDMENTS for PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care