THREAD
I’ve been fortunate (so far) to have never been seriously ill or injured, and have never really had to experience being a patient. For the past week, however, I’ve had the exhausting experience of being an ICU parent. It’s given me some practice-changing perspective.
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I’ve been fortunate (so far) to have never been seriously ill or injured, and have never really had to experience being a patient. For the past week, however, I’ve had the exhausting experience of being an ICU parent. It’s given me some practice-changing perspective.
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Our 4wk old girl, Maya, became ill about a week ago & is recovering from severe bronchiolitis. She’s tough and on the mend. We’re lucky that this was relatively short-term & (hopefully) self-limited. So much empathy for pts & families dealing with chronic or protracted illness. 
Here are a few things I’ve learned as an ICU family member:
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1) Nurses are the backbone: As an ICU doc, I already knew & respected this. But, being an ICU family member gave me perspective about how much familes interface with RNs compared with docs. I will work even harder to develop a shared mental model with my nursing colleagues.
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2) There is SO much waiting: Minutes feel like hours when you’re watching a loved one heal, and the space between updates feels like eternity. Even casual conversations & check-ins are reassuring; I will do better at spending time at the bedside, just talking with families
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3) We spend so much time in front of computers. Every clinician (RNs, RTs, MDs) spent countless hours checking EMR checkboxes & staring at screens. To us, this is part patient care. To pts/families, it just doesn’t feel that way. Not sure how to fix this, but we must.
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4) Pediatricians are masters at shared decision-making, watchful waiting, & resource stewardship. A week in the ICU & not a single lab draw. We (adult intensivists) could learn a lot from our pediatric colleagues.
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5) Being an ICU family member is uncomfortable. You always feel in the way. Sleep is not a thing. Every ICU doc should “sleep” in a pt room once). Noise & interruptions are constant. We need to make ICUs quiet, comfortable places for families, & pts.
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6) we need to remember that we do amazing things everyday. I won’t forget to remind my teams that our “routine” is not routine for any of our pts or families.
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Finally, every person who cared for our daughter from attendings to volunteers was phenomenal; we’re so thankful. I hope I never have to do this again, but I couldn’t be more appreciative for the care we’ve received. Our Maya is on the mend. Isn’t baby HFNC is the cutest?
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