ICU Survivors: Many ICU Patients Face a Difficult Road
New AACN articles highlight solutions to post-intensive care syndrome
Saving a life is no small feat: in fact, dozens of emergency room staff, surgical team members and critical care nurses and doctors may all have a hand in keeping a patient alive--and then recovering to the point where they can be released from the ICU. But what happens to patients after that?
As happy as they may be to leave behind the monitors, IV tubes and round-the-clock care, many former ICU patients are unprepared for the challenges ahead. They can find it difficult to deal with the trauma they’ve been through, and may struggle to find the proper after-care. In fact, a new series of articles in AACN’s Advanced Critical Care Journal points out that hospitals and others in the care continuum may need to find new ways to address what is being called “post-intensive care syndrome (PICS).”
PICS is an umbrella term relating to new or worsening mental health, and physical and cognitive outcomes that linger after a critical illness. When those outcomes affect patients’ family members, an “F” is added and the term becomes PICS-F.
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The April-June 2016 issue of the AACN journal features a symposium collection of four articles for ICU nurses and others, offering specific examples of how healthcare organizations are addressing PICS and PICS-F with ICU survivors.
The articles discuss the merits of such initiatives as:
• Peer support groups for post-ICU patients and families;
• Patient portals, like the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s MyICUCare site, which is part of its THRIVE initiative;
• Early, mobility-based rehabilitation while in the ICU;
• Intensive care unit follow-up clinics;
• Using an ICU diary and a patient/family educational pamphlet;
Judy Davidson, RN, DNP, an evidence-based practice and research nurse liaison at University of California San Diego Health, with educational consultant Maurene Harvey, MPH, served as symposium editors.
“The science supporting these strategies is young, but in the absence of strong evidence, we have a duty to take action in the best interest of the health of our patients and our community,” Davidson said. “We hope that the guidance offered in these articles will provide a compelling impetus for change.”
In addition to the four articles in the symposium, the journal’s Drug Update column and the Ethics column also touch on issues related to PICS and PICS-F.
Source: American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
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