Patients approaching the end of their life
Sadly, not every patient admitted to the intensive care unit will recover from their illness and a number of patients die despite the best efforts of the clinical team.
End of life care is about supporting a patient and their family during the final stages of life. This support will be extended to family, carers and others close to the patient – in what the clinical team understand is an extremely difficult time.
If it becomes clear that despite the treatment they are receiving, a patient will not survive their critical illness, the benefits and burdens of continuing invasive therapy will be discussed with the patient (where possible) and their family.
The details of these discussions and the treatment decisions made as a result of exploring the patient’s wishes will often be recorded on a ReSPECT form.
Adopting a palliative approach will usually involve stopping treatments that are no longer benefiting the patient and avoiding procedures that cause unnecessary discomfort or distress. High quality, patient centred care will continue but the focus will be on respecting the dying patient’s wishes and maintaining their comfort & dignity.
Additional support from the hospital’s palliative care team and/or Chaplaincy team will be offered as appropriate.
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