Ethics in Intensive Care Medicine (Lessons from the ICU)

Ethics in Intensive Care Medicine (Lessons from the ICU)

In this book, part of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) textbook series, experts in the field of clinical ethics describe basic principles of clinical ethics and ethical reasoning, the fundamental pillars... read more

Half of Healthcare Workers with COVID-19 Showed Up For Work

Half of Healthcare Workers with COVID-19 Showed Up For Work

About 50% of healthcare workers with symptomatic COVID-19 showed up for work, indicating concern over high workload burden for coworkers and personal responsibility. The findings were published in Infection Control & Hospital... read more

Optimizing Critical Illness Recovery: Perspectives and Solutions From the Caregivers of ICU Survivors

Optimizing Critical Illness Recovery: Perspectives and Solutions From the Caregivers of ICU Survivors

This qualitative, multicenter, international study of caregivers of critical illness survivors identified consistently unmet needs, means by which caregivers accessed support post ICU, and several care mechanisms identified... read more

Effect of Moderate vs Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia on Mortality and Neurologic Outcomes in Comatose Survivors of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Effect of Moderate vs Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia on Mortality and Neurologic Outcomes in Comatose Survivors of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

In comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, a target temperature of 31 °C did not significantly reduce the rate of death or poor neurologic outcome at 180 days compared with a target temperature of 34 °C. However,... read more

Understanding Moral Injury

Understanding Moral Injury

The Understanding Moral Injury video was put together by the LTLC-Critical Care programme. This is an HEE and NHSEI initiative aimed at supporting the cross-skilling of the London NHS workforce to manage existing and spikes... read more

Family satisfaction in a neuro trauma ICU

Family satisfaction in a neuro trauma ICU

The purpose of this quality improvement initiative was to evaluate satisfaction of family members of patients in a neuro trauma ICU (NTICU). Adult patients (age 18+) admitted to the NTICU for at least 24 hours between... read more

Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail

Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail

Last week saw the publication of yet another damning report shining a spotlight on the culture of cover up and denial in our healthcare system. Bill Kirkup’s report—”The Life and Death of Elizabeth Dixon: A Catalyst... read more

Miles Sibley: We need to change the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine

Miles Sibley: We need to change the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine

In July 2020, the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review published a report entitled “First Do No Harm”. Also known as the Cumberlege Review, the report set out extensive evidence of avoidable harm in... read more

All Intensivists Are Not Created Equal

All Intensivists Are Not Created Equal

I’d like to preface this story by saying that the majority of the intensivists I have worked with have been exceptional, caring, and professional. We had all established a good camaraderie, and we had mutual respect for... read more

How Severe COVID-19 Infection is Changing ARDS Management

How Severe COVID-19 Infection is Changing ARDS Management

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided many intensivists (and some non-intensivists) several years' worth of severe ARDS management experience over the course of just a few months. While the challenges have, in places, been extreme,... read more

Quality of Life of Intensive Care Unit-Acquired Weakness Symptoms in Long-Term Intensive Care Survivors

Quality of Life of Intensive Care Unit-Acquired Weakness Symptoms in Long-Term Intensive Care Survivors

Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICUAW) symptoms were disturbingly common in the majority of long-term survivors, indicating that symptoms persist up to 10y and frequently impair QoL. However, only a small number of... read more

Who Should Receive Life Support During a Public Health Emergency?

Unresolved ethical and practical dilemmas about allocating ventilators and critical care resources could threaten the success of the response to a public health emergency. We contend that the previously proposed "save... read more

Intensive Care Unit in Disaster

Intensive Care Unit in Disaster

This issue of Critical Care Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Marie Baldisseri, Mary Reed, and Randy Wax, in collaboration with Consulting Editor John Kellum, is devoted to Intensive Care Unit in Disaster. Topics in this... read more

Stress Management Intervention to Prevent PICS-Family in Patients’ Spouses

Stress Management Intervention to Prevent PICS-Family in Patients’ Spouses

Sensation Awareness Focused Training (SĀF-T) intervention during the ICU stay is feasible, acceptable, and may improve family caregivers' post-ICU outcomes. Larger clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of SĀF-T in... read more

Ethical Considerations About Artificial Intelligence for Prognostication in Intensive Care

Ethical Considerations About Artificial Intelligence for Prognostication in Intensive Care

New Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques have the potential to improve prognostication in intensive care. However, they require further refinement before they can be introduced into daily practice.... read more

An Ethical Claim for Providing Medical Recommendations in PICU

An Ethical Claim for Providing Medical Recommendations in PICU

The Declaration of Geneva was recently revised to emphasize patient autonomy and the importance of clinicians sharing medical knowledge. This reflects the welcome evolution of the doctor-patient relationship from one... read more

Competing and Conflicting Interests in the Care of Critically Ill Patients

Competing and Conflicting Interests in the Care of Critically Ill Patients

Medical professionals are expected to prioritize patient interests, and most patients trust physicians to act in their best interest. However, a single patient is never a physician's sole concern. The competing interests... read more