The questions you need to ask the most senior doctor, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!
Published: Tue, 10/15/13
where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill
Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have real power, real
control and so that you can influence decision making, even if
you're not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!
This is another weekly update and this week I want to show you
"The questions you need to ask the most senior doctor in
Intensive Care, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive
Care"
If your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care, it certainly
has its unique challenges and characteristics and it's most
likely that your and your Family's life has been turned upside
down in an instant or overnight. Let alone the life of your
critically ill loved one who is most likely facing a crisis
situation in Intensive Care!
A "once in a lifetime" situation that is a challenge
Those situations, where your loved one is critically ill in
Intensive Care tend to be nothing short of a "once in a
lifetime" situation and challenge and it's so important
that you know what to do in that situation, where your loved one is
critically ill in Intensive Care!
It's of course very important that you and your Family feel
safe and well looked after in those challenging situations! And in
all truth, nothing could be more challenging to feel safe, secure,
in control, powerful and influential if your loved one is
critically ill in Intensive Care. If anything, you and your Family
feel challenged, vulnerable and you are most likely struggling with
fears and frustrations that are beyond your control.
How do you get what you want?
But how do you get to that all important feeling of security,
safety, control, power and influence whilst your loved one is
critically ill in Intensive Care?
How will you get what you want during this critical, frustrating
and challenging time?
Well, one solution to the problem is certainly to know what
questions you need to ask. And more importantly, you need to know
which questions you need to ask to the Intensive Care team so that
you have power, control and influence, because you certainly
don't want to be at the mercy of the Intensive Care team.
Dealing with reality
You see the unfortunate reality is that most Families of critically
ill Patients in Intensive Care do not know whatquestions to ask and
they are so paralyzed by their fears and frustrations that they
don't know what to do so that they are blindly following the
Intensive Care team, without actually knowing that the Intensive
Care team has its own agenda and that the Intensive Care team is
often guided by the moving parts in the background, by the politics
and by other competing forces within the high stress environment
that is Intensive Care. And those moving parts and competing forces
in an Intensive Care Unit and the things that are happening in the
background of an Intensive Care Unit often determine
- The way your critically ill loved one's diagnosis and
prognosis
is "sold" to you and your Family
- The way the Intensive Care team positions your critically ill
loved one's diagnosis and prognosis
- The care your critically ill loved one is receiving or not
receiving
- The treatment your critically ill loved is receiving or not
receiving
Again, the sad reality is that most Families of critically ill
Patients simply don't know the things that are happening in the
background of an Intensive Care Unit and they don't ask the
right questions, because knowing about the right questions and then
actually asking them will give you the right answers!
Knowing the right questions will give you the right answers!
One of the challenges in Intensive Care is that Doctors appear to
be notoriously time poor, to the point where they often avoid
talking to Family members of critically ill Patients and they often
delegate those difficult conversations to their junior colleagues
or sometimes to the nursing staff.
But in order to get to the "meat" of it all, you need to
make sure that you speak to the most senior doctor and get answers
from "the horse's mouth" so to speak!
The most senior doctor in Intensive Care is most often also one of
the key decision makers who, together with the nurse manager
allocates precious and often scarce resources in the Intensive Care
Unit and they most likely know about other competing forces that
may impact on your critically ill loved one's care.
You need a "sniper approach" towards the most senior
doctor in Intensive Care with the right questions
Therefore, you need to take a "sniper approach" towards
the most senior doctor in Intensive Care and you need to ask
succinct and targeted questions that will give you all the right
answers and that will give you the insight you need so that you
then can position yourself correctly, in order to have the maximum
power, influence and control!
Only then will you be able to be in a good position to negotiate
the best possible care and the best possible treatment for your
critically ill loved one!
So in order to not hold back on the 6 most important questions you
need to ask the most senior doctor that will ultimately leverage
your level of control, power and influence here are some of the
most important questions!
1. How does the Intensive Care Units budget impact on my critically
ill loved ones stay in Intensive Care?
2. How do you know or how do you expect to know how my critically
ill loved one's Quality of Life is going to be after their stay
in Intensive Care?
3. How does other Patients awaiting admission to Intensive Care
impact on my critically ill loved ones prognosis?
If you haven't received your FREE report "The 6 most
important questions youneed to ask the most senior doctor in
Intensive Care" you can download it by clicking on this link here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/?p=3673
all you need to do is enter your email and you can download your
FREE report!
Thank you for tuning into this week's blog and I'll see you
again in another update next week! Make sure you also check out our
"your questions answered" section or send me an email to
support@intensivecarehotline.com
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I'll
see you again next week with another update!