Communication strategies to mitigate fear and suffering among COVID-19 patients isolated in the ICU and their families

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged modern health care practices globally. With insufficient preparation, healthcare providers are facing high volume of severely ill patients requiring advanced life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) in intensive care units (ICUs). Many of these patients are unable to communicate consistently, if at all, with their ICU medical teams due to work of breathing from respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation to support respiratory failure, or delirium associated with their severity of illness.

Source: Heart and Lung - May 2, 2020 Category: Intensive Care Authors: Kathleen M. Akg ün, Tracy L. Shamas, Shelli L. Feder, Dena Schulman-Green Source Type: research