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 your loved one’s critically ill in Intensive Care, are you still feeling powerless?

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

In this week’s blog I want to talk about

Having a loved one critically ill in Intensive Care! Your comfort zone is your enemy!

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

When you are faced with the “once in a lifetime” challenge when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care, you usually hit rock bottom!

The fear, the uncertainty, the struggles, the vulnerability and your lack of knowing what to do get you to seek for answers and advice quickly!

That’s one side of the coin and on the other side families in Intensive Care put “blind faith” and unverified trust into the Intensive Care team’s ability to do what’s right and to do what’s “in the best interest” for your critically ill loved one!

99% of the families in Intensive Care think that by letting the Intensive Care team “do their thing” will get them the desired outcomes and the desired results, only to find that Intensive Care teams have agendas that go way beyond your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis!

Therefore, Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care never step outside of their comfort zones by doing their own research, by starting to ask the right questions, as well as asking difficult and specific  questions and they never stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team’s “perceived power” and their “perceived authority”!

In order to get the care, treatment, outcomes and results that you want to get and deserve for your family and for your critically ill loved one, you need to stop looking at what the 99% of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care are doing- who don’t make informed decisions, who don’t have peace of mind, don’t have power, don’t have control and who don’t have influence- but instead you need to move outside of your comfort zone very quickly, do your own research, challenge the Intensive Care team’s “perceived power” and “perceived authority” and get the care, treatment, results and outcomes that you and your family want and deserve!

Getting outside of your comfort zone during this “once in a lifetime” challenge is crucial if you want to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power and influence quickly!

So let’s get into today’s topic!

When your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care you would have seen by now that if you copy the behaviour and thinking of the 99% of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care who make no informed decisions, who have no peace of mind, no control, no power and no influence that you are doomed!

The 99% of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care who make no informed decisions, have no peace of mind, no control, no power and no influence say things like

• “let the doctors and the nurses do their thing, the know what they are doing”

• “let’s not upset the doctors and the nurses and let them get on with their work”

• “I know I can’t ask too many questions because they are all busy”

• “ surely they will do the best for my loved one”

• “if the doctors and the nurses don’ have time to talk to me, they must be busy”

• “ I don’t have the time to do my own research and it’s all too hard”

Sounds familiar?

I’m sure it does.

I have seen it over and over again in more than 15 years Intensive Care nursing in three different countries, where I literally worked with thousands of critically ill Patients and their families, as well as when working with Clients one on one in my counselling and consulting over the phone/Skype or via email, I think I have seen my fare share of the struggles that families in Intensive Care are going through.

I have also worked as a Nurse Unit Manager in Intensive Care for more than 5 years and I have gotten enough insights into the world that is Intensive Care so that I can confidently say that I can help you and your family, no matter how difficult your situation…

It’s also something that I experience in my daily practice when I counsel and consult families in Intensive Care over the phone/ Skype or via email.

They are just not prepared to do what’s necessary to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power and influence quickly!

And that’s why your comfort zone is your enemy!

One of the reasons I’m writing this blog post today is that I had a Client recently that I consulted over the phone and via email and he had the most horrendous experience with one of his family members being in Intensive Care for nearly two and a half months!

The Client’s family member eventually passed away and I believe that their life could have been saved if the Intensive Care team had done all the right things from the start! They haven’t been open and transparent, they never gave the right advice, they have been negligent from the start from my perspective and they didn’t do, let alone suggest the things that they should have done in order to save a precious young life!

It just showed me again that if you are not prepared to step outside of your comfort zone during this “once in a lifetime” situation quickly that you know you can’t afford to getting wrong, you are at risk of not getting the best care, the best treatment and therefore the outcomes that you and your family want and deserve!

Related article/video:

Why having a loved one critically ill in Intensive Care is “A ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation and why YOU can’t AFFORD GETTING IT WRONG!

It also shows me once again that you simply don’t know what you don’t know! You, your family and your critically ill loved one are literally walking through a minefield…

It’s not your fault!

And it’s not your fault nobody has ever told you what you need to do when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care, right? Nobody is sitting at home thinking, “I wonder what I should do if one of my family members gets admitted to Intensive Care tomorrow or next week?”

That’s not how we humans are wired. It’s only when shit hits the fan so to speak, only then are we faced with challenges that look and feel like they are insurmountable.

Related article/video:

THE 4 WAYS YOU CAN OVERCOME INSURMOUNTABLE OBSTACLES WHILST YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!

But when “shit hits the fan” you can’t be idle and you can’t be sitting on the sidelines watching things as a passive bystander. If you do this you fall into the category of the 99% of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care who don’t make informed decisions, who don’t have peace of mind, don’t have control and don’t have influence!

Think about it for a minute! If your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care and 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 

there is no way that you can just stay put and not step outside of your comfort zone, do your own research, challenge the Intensive Care team and in the process make informed decisions, get peace of mind, get power, get control and get influence!

Your comfort zone is your enemy!

In order to get what you want and deserve, get the care, treatment, outcomes and results, you need to very quickly embrace your comfort zone and step outside of it!

I have seen way too many situations in Intensive Care as well as with my counselling and consulting clients where families in Intensive Care act when it’s already too late!

Time and your comfort zone are your enemy!

And I know it feels hard picking up the phone and ringing me or sending me an email, but by now you also know that I can help you and your critically ill loved one, otherwise you wouldn’t be here!

You know by now that there are way too many things happening “BEHIND THE SCENES” in Intensive Care and you know by now that the Intensive Care team has an agenda that goes way beyond your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis!

• ONE on ONE phone counselling/consulting with Patrik!

• Email questions answered!

Therefore, you can’t afford not to step outside of your comfort zone and do the things that you know you need doing in order to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, get control, get power and get influence!

Finally I want to close with a quote,

“There is no growth in your comfort zone and there is no comfort in your growth zone!”

Therefore you’ve got to take this opportunity and grow beyond this challenge by looking at it as an opportunity for personal growth and development!

One way to look at this massive “once in a lifetime” challenge is to take this challenge, run with it and trying to master it. If you can handle this massive challenge in life you can handle any other challenge in life. Any other challenge in life will be peanuts for you if you can successfully handle your loved one’s critical illness in Intensive Care!

Anything else you’ll eat for breakfast!

Your friend

Patrik