My I.C.U. Patient Lived. Is That Enough?
By Daniela J. Lamas NYT April 2, 2017
[This is a fine article by Dr. Lamas, a Critical Care physician in Boston. Anything she writes is worth reading]
FULL TEXT
ONE morning I was at a support group for patients who had survived a critical illness and their family members. It seems simple — a few doctors, a social worker, a psychiatrist, former patients and their husbands and wives, a conference room, pastries, coffee.
As many as one in three patients sick enough to require a ventilator might develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety and depression are equally common, if not more so. The name for the constellation of symptoms often experienced by survivors of critical illness — post-intensive care syndrome.
As I.C.U. doctors, we can learn from our patients and their families and they can learn from one another, simply by sitting in a room together and paying attention to what unfolds. [Holds true for all health care professionals]