Improving care in the Intensive Care Unit: what works and how to put this into practice

Project Description

The Intensive Care Unit is a specialised ward where patients with life-threatening illness receive care. Time in the Intensive Care Unit can be very distressing for patients and their loved ones. It can involve difficult to manage symptoms, hard discussions, and challenging decisions. Palliative care is an approach that can help in these situations to improve the wellbeing of both patients and their families. It reduces suffering through the recognition and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, emotional, social, or spiritual. Research so far tells us there are unmet needs. These include needs for more communication, better matching of patient care with patient wishes, improved symptom management, and more family support.

An issue when trying to develop a change across intensive care units is that they all run differently. The interaction between the intensive care team and the palliative care team, and who delivers the palliative care, is variable. This means that plans must be tailored for each individual unit, to address their own obstacles and use their strengths. We can look to previous research, as well as asking healthcare professionals and public members with experience, to find common barriers, strengths, and ways to use these. Combining and sharing this knowledge can help units to create their own tailored plan, considering things they may not otherwise have. This will save them time and resources while increasing the chance of improved care.

This project aims to provide intensive care units with a toolkit to create their own plan to improve palliative care for their patients and families. The toolkit will allow them to make good use of resources, ensure staff are supported, and the plan is practical in real life.