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Quick Tip for Families in ICU: What Should I Do If There’s No Consistency of Doctors and Nurses for My Mother in Intensive Care?

If you want to know what to do when there’s constant staff turnover in ICU when you have a loved one critically ill, stay tuned! I’ve got news for you.

I have an email from a subscriber who says,

“Hi Patrik,

We have constant turnover of staff in ICU; new doctors, new nurses every couple of days. I would have expected the same doctors and nurses would stay with my mom since her arrival in ICU with an alternate covering the days off. So, primary doctor and then one alternate, but we are on doctor #3 now after only 9 days in ICU, and there’s a different nurse every day. What should we be doing?”

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and this is another quick tip for families in intensive care.

Here’s the reality of what’s happening in ICU. There is usually a huge turnaround of staff, whether it’s doctors, nurses, whether it’s allied health, such as physiotherapists or physical therapists, doesn’t really matter who it is. There’s a huge staff turnover for a number of reasons that I have insights into because I have worked in the industry for 25 years, but I’m not going into the depth of why that is in this video, because it would take up too much time. But the bottom line is, there is a lot of staff turnover in big ICUs.

So my advice is, you need to stay focused on what you can control and not what you can’t control. Now, whilst there are sometimes very legitimate reasons for you to have a doctor or a nurse not to look after your family member and not have them on your team, and you can make a complaint. The reality is that we only get you so far, and the hospitals will try and protect those people regardless, unless it’s something completely unconscionable that they’re doing. They will try and protect their staff.

What to do, and what do you need to focus on that you actually can control so you’re not getting sidetracked by the things that you can’t control. One important aspect of taking control of the situation here is that you get access to the medical records so you’re not relying on doctors and nurses giving you updates. Get access to the medical records, that’s number one. Because then you can actually have a look at what’s happening online. You’re not waiting for a random doctor or a random nurse to give you an update. You can look it up yourself, that’s number 1.

Number 2, learn what questions to ask. Because then, once again, if you are in control of what to ask, you are much less reliant on the doctors and nurses. You need to get a grip on things. When someone is critically ill in intensive care, as you’ve probably seen by now, there are dozens of things happening simultaneously. Unless you have a good understanding of what is exactly happening, you have no idea what’s happening. The other thing that is important, intensive care teams will only tell you half of the story. They assume you don’t understand. Well, they assume they’re the only ones to understand what’s going on, which is not the case, of course, you do understand as long as you ask the right questions.

So, get access to the medical records. I will post a link in the written version of this video. There’s a video that I’ve made a couple of years ago, “What questions to ask when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care?” And of course, we can review medical records for you as part of our consulting and advocacy service. You can just reach out to us here at intensivecarehotline.com. But focus on what you can control, not focus on what you can’t control. As long as you get more or less a crash course on intensive care, you will actually stay in control of what’s happening.

Most families in intensive care that actually do make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, they take responsibility, they ask all the right questions and they get professional help, which is what we do here at intensivecarehotline.com with our consulting and advocacy.

I’ll give you another example, when I talk to clients, sometimes I ask them what ventilation settings is your family member on, because that is one very important aspect of consulting. We need to find out what ventilation settings are, is a client or a patient on, and then we can advise from them. They say, “Oh, they are on PEEP (Positive End-Expiratory Pressure) of 5.” That’s 1 out of 10 numbers on a ventilator. We need to look at every number in order to advise you correctly.

Once again, 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. They don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care. Instead of you worrying about how they manage you in terms of high staff turnover, you take charge, you take control, you get access to the medical records, you get professional help, and everything else will take care of itself.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that at our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we’ve done client interviews. We have helped hundreds and hundreds of members and clients over the years to save their loved ones’ lives or improve their loved ones’ situation in intensive care.

That’s one of the many reasons why I do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly with you or on your behalf, and you will see the dynamics change pretty quickly once the doctors know you have someone on your team who speaks the intensive care language inside out and understands the industry inside out just as much as they do.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

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

We also have an online membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link or if 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. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. All of that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

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 [email protected].

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show, and you will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com

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 for now.

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