Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)
Muscle weakness, memory problems, depression, insomnia, physical pain, nightmares. These are just a few examples of the problems that patients may experience following critical illness. Symptoms such as these which affect emotional, physical, and cognitive health are now being recognized as Post Intensive Care Syndrome, or PICS. Efforts to educate health care providers, patients, and families about Post Intensive Care Syndrome are underway. Explore our site to learn more about PICS.
For patients and loved ones who have experienced critical illness, it is no secret how frightening the ICU can be. Often times people find themselves in an environment in which they have never been before, surrounded by people they have never met, and facing circumstances they couldn't have imagined. Surprisingly quickly however, those strangers become the comforting familiar faces of the care team, new ICU routines replace one's previous "normal" daily life, and the intensity eases. This isn't to say that the ICU ever becomes comfortable, but for many patients and loved ones the ICU provides a sense of security that is difficult to replicate.
Transitioning out of the ICU to a general care floor and eventual discharge from the hospital can be a time of mixed emotions for many people. It is often a clear sign of improvement in one's medical condition, but it can also be met with feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. Responsibilities that had been managed by the hospital care team are now fully in the hands of the patient and loved ones.
I felt that transitioning home from the ICU was like going on a long, anxiety-filled trip without a roadmap - @seanne via Mayo Clinic Connect
There are steps one can take to help ease this transition and to make this path more clear. The Society of Critical Care Medicine has developed a short video explaining how to make the transition home after a stay in the ICU easier on everyone involved. This video covers topics such as home going equipment, medications, follow-up appoints and tests. Click this link to watch the brief video: Discharge After a Critical Illness
Of course, clear communication with all those involved in transitions of care out of the ICU is ultimately the most important step. Here are some quick tips to aid in that communication:
Come back soon and join our discussions about what to expect Beyond the ICU.
Liked by Colleen Young, Connect Director