How to help patients regain psychological health after critical illness

Post-intensive care psychological recovery

The lecture duration is 47min.

1 CPD Point, 1 CME credit approval pending, 1 CEU.
Accredited by CPDUK, Provider Pending and CBRN.

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Leanne Aitken
Professor of Critical Care at City, University of London
Lecture Summary

Approximately 1/3 of survivors of critical illness experience psychological compromise during recovery. Although the pattern of this compromise varies for individual patients, we can monitor and minimise factors in ICU that might make this worse for patients, and also improve our care to reduce problems during recovery. Interventions to be delivered within ICU that might be of benefit include sedation minimisation, sleep improvement, early mobility and psychological support. Interventions to be considered after ICU include information provision and follow-up support.

Target Audience

Critical Care Nurses
Trainee Critical Care Doctors

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this activity, you should be able to:

  • Describe the compromise in psychological health that survivors of the critical illness experience
  • Discuss if we can predict which of our patients might experience psychological distress after ICU
  • Implement strategies during and after ICU to help improve patients' psychological health