The Society of Critical Care Medicine has a great new guide for patients and
families: Understanding Your ICU Stay. This should help improve communication and reduce conflict. Here is the table of contents:
Why Do ICU Patients Look and Act That Way?
Chronic Critical Illness in Adults Requiring Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation
Participating in Care: What Questions Should I Ask?
Making Decisions About ICU Care
What Are the Choices Regarding Life Support?
Sepsis: What You Should Know
Taking Care of Yourself While a Family Member Is in the ICU
Critical Care Medication
Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)
Death by Neurological Criteria (Brain Death)
What to Expect After Your Family Member Leaves the ICU: Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) and Other Issues
Life Support Equipment
What to Expect When Your Child Is in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Palliative Care for Children
Glossary
Resources
Source: bioethics.net, a blog maintained by the editorial staff of The American Journal of Bioethics.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by these authors and blogs are theirs and do not necessarily represent that of the Bioethics Research Library and Kennedy Institute of Ethics or Georgetown University.