Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Is Transferring an Unstable Ventilated & Tracheostomy Patient from ICU to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) Medical Negligence?

“Is transferring a patient from ICU to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) without proper stabilization, antibiotic therapy, and infection control exposing the patient to avoidable medical risk and medical negligence?” That is a question that we have from one of our clients today, and I want to answer that question.

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

So, this is a question that I’ve addressed implicitly and explicitly over the years many, many times, because you would have heard me saying on this particular show and podcast that ventilated and tracheostomy patients should never go to LTAC. Never, ever.

In case you are wondering what’s an LTAC, LTAC stands for Long Term Acute Care Hospital. It is very unique to the United States. Only the United States have LTACs. Basically, what LTACs do is they take patients from ICU with ventilation and tracheostomy, and they do it all the time.

But from my extensive experience, after having worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries, the LTACs are not equipped to look after ventilation and tracheostomy clients. I’ve got plenty of evidence on this channel. You can go back through our repertoire of blogs and videos where we have real clients talking about their experience in LTAC and it’s just absolutely shocking. Have a look at the online reviews of LTACs, and see what actually patients and families say. You will understand very quickly why I’m saying a ventilated and tracheostomy patient should never go from ICU to LTAC even if they are “stable.”

The reality is that a ventilated and tracheostomy patient always has an element of becoming unstable very, very quickly, and plenty of patients over the years that have gone from ICU to LTAC bounced back into ICU within less than 24 to 48 hours. Even though, families have gone through an appeals process saying, “Our loved one is not ready to go to LTAC.” Then they go anyway, and then they bounce back into ICU within 24 to 48 hours. It’s just all a farce.

I’ve made a video with the title, “10 Reasons Why LTACs in the U.S. are a Scam”. I will link to that video in the written version of this blog so you can actually watch that video. I think it’s highly relevant for anyone that has a loved one either in LTAC or has a loved one on the verge of going from ICU to LTAC if they’re in ICU in the U.S.

So, let’s break down this question, “Does transferring a ventilated tracheostomy patient from ICU to LTAC without proper stabilization, antibiotic therapy, and infection control practices expose the patient to avoidable medical risk and medical negligence?” Yes, absolutely.

Transferring a patient from ICU to a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) without proper stabilization, antibiotic therapy and infection control is of course exposing the patient to significant avoidable medical risk and medical negligence, including worsening of infections. If an infection is not adequately treated or controlled, it can spread sepsis, pneumonia progression, which is harder to manage in LTAC settings.

Number 2, inadequate monitoring. ICU level monitoring is more intensive than what most LTACs provide. A patient who isn’t stable may deteriorate without timely intervention. Increased risk of complications, unstable vital signs, unmanaged infections or incomplete care plans, raise the risk of cardiac, respiratory or metabolic complications, and of course, readmissions to ICU before patients who are transferred prematurely often return to ICU which increases morbidity costs and emotional distress for patients and for families.

Before any transfer, which we strongly reject in the first place, a comprehensive clinical assessment should confirm that the patient is stable enough to benefit from LTAC care. I can tell you once again, no patient with ventilation tracheostomy is benefiting from LTAC care at all. If that hasn’t happened, the transfer should be questioned and delayed.

The whole situation about patients going from ICU to LTAC in the U.S. shows that the system is absolutely broken, and that patients and families, of course, are not getting what they need clinically in those circumstances.

So, I hope that helps you shed light on the LTAC-ICU situation.

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 critical 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 if you go to our intensivecarehotline.com testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com or if you go to intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews. Because our advice is absolutely life changing, the sooner you get help, the higher chances are that you will make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always. The sooner you get help when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care, the higher chances are you will get the results and outcomes that you want, need, and deserve.

You can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years to improve their lives instantly, making sure they make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure their loved ones get best care and treatment always.

That’s 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 can’t afford to get wrong. I make sure you ask the right questions. I make sure you understand everything that’s happening with your critically ill loved one so that you can ask the right questions and get the right outcomes. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly on your behalf or with you or I set you up with the right questions. I’ll make sure I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care.

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 a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. 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 videos and 21 e-books that only are exclusively accessible to our members. 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 simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

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

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show. 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.

Related Articles:

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: The ICU Team is Trying to Blackmail Us & Only Do a Tracheostomy If We Agree to Certain Conditions! Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Another Testimonial and Another Life Saved for One of Our Happy intensivecarehotline.com Clients! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: When is it Necessary & When is it Not Necessary to Sedate an ICU Patient Who We are Waiting to Wake Up? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: My Husband has been in ICU Ventilated for Four Weeks and He Can’t Come Off It. Help! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: How to Properly Monitor for Sepsis, Including Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring & Timely Labs in ICU