Hi, it's Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM, where we instantly improve the lives for Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making fast, even if you're not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!

In the last blog I talked about

When an Intensive Care Unit is failing one of their families! A real life case study!

You can check out the last blog by clicking on the link here.

In this week’s blog I want to talk about

What is a good death in Intensive Care?                 

Before I get into today's topic I want to share a quote with you that I wrote on today's topic and the quote says

Death and dying in Intensive Care are a reality for some Patients and their families.

Most statistics suggest that around 6-10% of all Patients in Intensive Care don’t survive their stay in Intensive Care!

Those statistics do not mention the quality of death and dying in Intensive Care nor do they mention how many of those deaths could have been prevented in the first place.

Those statistics also don’t mention how many of those deaths have been “real” vs “perceived” end of life situations.

The statistics also don’t mention what families in Intensive Care and their critically ill loved ones would see as a good death in Intensive Care and the Families are the ultimate stakeholder in all of this.

Even in this day and age families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care are not being asked as to if, when or how they would want their critically ill loved one to die, in which circumstances or in which environment they want to die.

Most surveys in first world countries suggest that 75% of people want to die at home if given a choice and yet less than 15% actually do die at home, making an institutionalized death all the more likely for the majority of the people dying in Intensive Care…

Especially in this day and age, in the 21^st century and in first world countries and with services like INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME readily available, death and dying even for most Intensive Care Patients should be done in an environment where they and their families want to be, rather than approaching death in a “one size fits all” institutionalized Intensive Care environment…

 So let’s get into today’s topic.

Death and dying in Intensive Care are not “sexy” topics and yet it’s on top of mind for everyone who has a loved one critically ill in Intensive Care and it’s on top of mind for most health professionals in Intensive Care dealing with critically ill Patients and their families.

Even though most Patients in Intensive Care do survive their stay there’s still a significantly large number of people dying in Intensive Care!

And if you have followed me on my INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM blog for any length of time, you have heard me talking about how to prevent death in Intensive Care in the first place or at the very least you would have heard me sharing strategies, real world case studies, tips and tools in how to maximise survival in the first place, especially when your critically ill loved one is either

• very unstable and in a very critical condition

• in a life threatening situation

• not "waking up" after an induced coma

• in Intensive Care for long-term treatments and long-term stays (including long-term ventilation)

• having a severe (traumatic) head or brain injury

• threatened with an "NFR" (Not for resuscitation) or "DNR" (Do not resuscitate) order

• In a situation where the Intensive Care team suggests a "withdrawal of treatment" or a "limitation of treatment" as being “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one

• approaching their end of life in Intensive Care

and besides those challenging, difficult and often heartbreaking situations you would have also heard me talking about how to make meaning out of any situation in Intensive Care.

Related article/video:

• How to make meaning when you’re loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

Therefore after you and your family have ruled out that there are no other options besides your critically ill loved one inevitably approaching their end of life in Intensive Care, you do want to make sure that you and your family are making sure that your critically ill loved one can have as close to a good death as possible, because it matters.

Why should I be the one telling you about what a good death is in Intensive Care?

To give you more context, after more than 15 and nearly 20 years Intensive Care nursing experience in three different countries where I literally worked with thousands of critically ill Patients and their families, where I have also worked as a Nurse Unit Manager for over 5 years and with now counselling and consulting families in Intensive Care on a day by day basis here at INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM, I have heard over and over again that families don’t want their loved ones to die in a sterile, institutionalized and often depressing Intensive Care environment.

And that’s only fair enough, who wants to part with a loved one in memory of having them passing away in Intensive Care where everybody but a family is calling the shots.

Who wants their loved one to pass away in an environment where the Intensive Care team has policies and procedures that can only facilitate dying in a sterile, institutionalized and depressing Intensive Care environment.

A “one size fits all” death?

Who wants their loved one to die in an environment where Intensive Care teams are trying to have a “one size fits all” approach to dying?

Because a “one size fits all” death or end of life situation doesn’t take your and your family’s needs into consideration and whatever those needs are, whether it be cultural, spiritual or religious or something else entirely shouldn’t be left in the hands of Intensive Care teams who are often only interested in pushing their agenda.

What are their needs?

Their needs are often disguised and hidden in an agenda that you and your family simply have no clue about.

The agenda of an Intensive Care team often has nothing to do with getting your needs met and their primary goals are often to maximise their financial benefit, to manage their scarce, precious and “in-demand” Intensive Care beds, to do profitable and often ethically questionable medical research, managing their hierarchy and their politics and the list goes on and on… and in fact I have written a book about it here.

• THE 10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ARE HAPPENINGBEHIND THE SCENES IN INTENSIVE CARE THAT HOLD YOU BACK FROM HAVING PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE, WHILST YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE

In fact, you and your family wanting to have an end of life situation on your terms is not on the list of the “hidden agenda”.

I believe that it’s crucially important that if you are dealing with an inevitable end of life situation (which really means you have left no stone unturned in order to prevent death, irrespective of what the Intensive Care team says) you would want an end of life situation on your terms and you would probably want it in your loved one’s home rather than in a sterile, depressing and institutionalized Intensive Care Unit.

To give you more context, I know from my clinical practice in Intensive Care as well as from my 1:1 counselling and consulting practice  most people wanting to opt for an end of life situation outside of Intensive Care if possible at all.

Now, some of you may know that I also own, run and operate a home care nursing service INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME  and we can provide such palliative care services in the home for Intensive Care Patients.

And this is a win-win situation. Given that most Intensive Care Units are focusing on minimising length of stay in Intensive Care anyway we have created a win-win situation that is of benefit to all stakeholders.

Think about it, you can get an end of life situation on your terms where all of your and your family’s needs are getting met and the Intensive Care Unit is also benefiting by freeing up their beds and by saving money and other resources.

The cost of a $5,000- $6,000 per bed day ICU bed is coming down to around 50% of the cost and it’s a much more Patient and family friendly environment. It makes perfect sense and it’s consumer driven.

It’s a no-brainer. INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME  can successfully provide such services with much success and with real peace of mind, control, power and influence for families.

And also after families in Intensive Care have made an informed decision about what they want.

Therefore the answer to the question

What is a good death in Intensive Care?

Is an outside of the box answer that you wouldn’t have guessed necessarily.

Therefore, you and your family may familiarise yourself with the options of having your loved one at home as well when they are approaching their end of life in Intensive Care.

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is also available if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care and requires long-term ventilation with tracheostomy.

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is currently operating on the east coast of Australia in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and we are planning expand to the USA and Canada later in the year, watch the space.

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is a fully third party accredited service provider and therefore can provide Intensive Care services at home.

So I hope that this gives you more perspective on what a good death can look like outside of Intensive Care.

If you have any questions in relation to INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME and we are going to come to your area, please send an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com or call any of the numbers in our contact section.