Search Tag: Communication
Communication myths of anaesthetists
2019 14 Mar
Vital minutes before unconsciousness Anaesthesia is a diverse specialty with a wide range of necessary skills, one of which is effective communication. The myth that anaesthetists pick the specialty ‘because you don’t need to talk to your patients’ persists. Whether said in jest or disdain this concept gains ground because, yes... Read more
Humanizing the ICU experience with enhanced communication
2018 16 Oct
Avicenne ICU’s initiative. Decisions to limit therapy (DTLT) are routine for ICU physicians. Although breaking bad news is one of the most difficult tasks clinicians face, ongoing communication is even more crucial as families (not necessary following a legal or genetic definition) of critically ill patients have heightened communication... Read more
Patient/family-centred care: communication is key
2018 27 Jun
Among critically ill patients and their surrogates, a family-support intervention delivered by the interprofessional ICU team did not significantly affect the surrogates’ burden of psychological symptoms, according to results of the PARTNER trial. Researchers note, however, that the surrogates’ ratings of the quality of communication and the patient-... Read more
Supporting the patient innovator
2018 16 Mar
Their inability to communicate effectively whilst he had a tracheostomy on the intensive care unit (ICU), had such a profound impact on Duncan Buckley and his wife, Lisa-Marie, that they developed a concept for a novel interactive communication device, called ‘ICU CHAT’. Together, they have been embedded within the multidisciplinary ICU research... Read more
Effective education for palliative care: communication as a procedure
2017 22 Nov
Palliative care for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit is increasingly in the mainstream, and palliative care principles are vital to ensure comprehensive patient care. ICU Management & Practice spoke to Caroline J. Hurd, MD, Director of Education Operations at UW Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence, about the purpose of... Read more
Integration of nurse practitioners into the critical care team
2017 22 Nov
A viable approach to meet pressing challenges As the demands of critical care medicine increase one viable option to meet needs is the addition of a nurse practitioner to the traditional structure of the critical care team. The purpose of this article is to convey our positive experience of physician and nurse practitioner integration... Read more
Decision Support Tool for ICU Patients' Families
2017 25 Apr
Families of intensive care unit (ICU) patients perceive severe deficiencies in communication about decision making. A new study finds that an online decision support tool is an acceptable and valuable tool as perceived by the family members of critically ill patients. The findings are reported in Journal of Critical Care. Critically ill, mechanically... Read more
New App for Patients Who Can't Speak
2016 07 Nov
An app for patients who cannot communicate has been developed by Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre’s intensive care department. The app (voICe) was released in Dutch in 2013 and is now available in English. It consists of 50 pictograms, for adults and children, grouped in 6 themes, that speak and show the text. When the pictogram is touched,... Read more
Quality and Safety: What Have We Learned?
2016 04 Oct
Communication is key when it comes to improving quality and safety in intensive care, according to Todd Dorman, President, Society of Critical Care Medicine , and Professor and Vice Chair Critical Care, Johns Hopkins University. “We need to create a culture where mistakes will be identified”, he said. Speaking at the Global Tracheostomy Collective... Read more