How to advocate for a loved one who's spending time in the ICU. health patientadvocate
Patients are attached to high-tech, beeping monitors and devices that sustain life, including ventilators, ECG machines, nasogastric suction machines, blood pressure cuffs and pulse oximeters. They likely have several tubes running to and from their body, including an IV catheter, urine catheter, nasogastric tube and more. Depending on their illness or injury, they may be given strong painkilling drugs or sedatives to help the healing process and keep them calm.
When a loved one is first admitted to an ICU, you may feel helpless and desperate to learn everything you can about their chances of recovery. Advocating for an ICU patient will test your patience and resolve, but it's important for family members to be involved in, or at least aware of, care decisions and to bring any concerns to ICU staff members. Patients who have cognitive or mental impairments are entitled to always have a family member or advocate present.1.
3.) Request a family meeting with the care team. A request like this will usually bring together some combination of doctors, nurses and others to meet with you and family members. If you have hired a private patient advocate to help you navigate this experience, they should also be there. Electronic health records have helped continuity by keeping notes, lab results, images and tests in one place. But when a new doctor or nurse comes into play and they're evaluating your loved one for the first time, they may benefit from an observation from you that, for example, a particular medication seemed to cause agitation or lethargy.
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