Humanizing ICU Care: Role of Family Centred Care - Dr Himanshu Dewan
Development of advanced critical care units and intensive care medicine as a medical super speciality has had a massive impact on reducing patient mortality and morbidity. Some disease which were considered a doom for the patient such as celphos poisoning or severe ARDS have had a significant reduction in mortality due to modern day ICU’s and advanced machines.
The downside of all this development and technology is that the ICU’s may seem like a walled prison to the patient and his family. And times we clinicians are so busy in planning treatment for the disease that we overlook the fact that a “HUMAN” has this disease. This Human is scared that he may lose his life, he is scared that his family may not be able to support themselves in his absence. And recognizing this aspect of illness is what brings us close to humanization of ICU care.
Why does de humanization occur?
Imagine a scenario of a critically sick patient coming to critical care unit and being addressed by his bed number (rather than his name), he immediately lost his identity!
His family outside the ICU not being able to meet him due to visiting timing restrictions, he lost touch with his family! So, de humanization consists of treating someone as an “OBJECT” rather than as a “PERSON” and is often associated with failure to honour dignity.
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