Patient & family
AzRAC
Placement in intensive care
If you or someone you love is in intensive care, it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. It can be helpful for both the patient and their relative to understand what can happen in intensive care. The resuscitation team is highly professional and includes doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, nutritionists, pharmacists, occupational therapists and many other allied health professionals. They are ready to take care of you or your loved one and answer your questions while you are in intensive care.
Reception
After hospitalization, it may take an hour or more for treatment to begin to stabilize your condition. You may still be recovering from anesthesia after surgery, or you may have been sedated and put on a ventilator as the first step in treatment. Visitors will be welcomed and will see the various medical equipment associated with you and the high activity of the ICU staff. ICU is on a higher level than a regular room, in part because of the equipment to keep you safe. If you hear an alarm, it doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong, just that there is something the staff should be aware of or look out for. If you are concerned, the attendants will explain the equipment and sounds to you. The first few hours in ICU are often unstable, and your state can fluctuate frequently. Even if you are sedated, one of the team members will tell you what has already happened and what to expect in the next few hours. Don't be afraid to ask questions whenever you can. It is important that your loved ones support you. You may be confused by your condition or sedatives. If your family tells you what happened, it will put you at ease and help you recover.
Research
Advances in medical knowledge and treatment have been made through research, and medical practice today is based on evidence that works. In ICUs across the country, there is always research being done on various aspects of care, all of which must be approved by an independent ethics committee made up of outside experts. Patients and increasingly their relatives are sometimes invited to take part in research trials. ICU have staff who oversee these trials and obtain consent from patients, and sometimes their relatives, to participate in an approved trial. Participation is completely voluntary and does not require consent. Even after consent is given, revocation can occur at any time. Full details of any proceeding will be explained by the staff of the unit coordinating it.
Mood changes
It's not uncommon for you to feel like you're getting worse before you get better, but it's important to stay positive and know that your caregivers are always working to help you get better. Sedation can prevent you from thinking clearly. This may change your perception of what is happening, and you may appear angry, hostile, or just different, but this change will not be permanent.
Weakness and weight loss
During your stay in the intensive care unit, you may lose weight and muscle tone. The joints may also become stiff from prolonged bed rest, and there may be some loss of sensation in the fingers and other small joints. This can be uncomfortable, but as you become more active, muscle weakness and joint stiffness will decrease as you recover.
Hallucinations and nightmares
Some patients do not remember anything about their stay in the intensive care unit, some remember very little, but most patients can remember the days immediately after the removal of the breathing tube, although these memories are fragmented. Many people treated in the ICU have vivid memories of unrealistic experiences—special facilities, individual nurses, and significant emotional experiences. Don't be afraid to talk about your experiences with nurses, and no matter how weird, scary, or even pleasurable they are, they rarely happen after recovery. Poor memory and memory loss are caused by a combination of the type and severity of the disease, medication, and other factors that are not yet fully understood.
Transfer to another hospital
Sometimes you may need to transfer to another hospital because they have very special care that you need. This should be done during the day whenever possible, although it may occur in the evening or at night due to a sudden emergency. The decision to transfer is always made by doctors of the highest caliber and all transfers to another hospital must be made strictly in accordance with procedures to protect your well-being.
Before anesthesia you should tell your anesthesioloist if you
Have chronic health issues – That's definitely the biggest issue. We need to know about your heart problem, lung problem, liver or kidney problem, because they affect how your body is going to react to anesthesia and how well it's going to eliminate it from the body. We want to be able to make the best-informed decision about your anesthesia plan.
Take any medications or supplements – Some medications affect how anesthesia works. We could have issues with your blood pressure, for example, or sugar control is going to be an issue if you're a diabetic. These interactions could affect the operation itself, along with how well you're going to recover from anesthesia and how well you'll do after the surgery. Similarly, supplements can potentially interfere with other medications that you're taking or may mask conditions that we don't know about. Some supplements can affect bleeding and have other properties that could interfere with your surgery and anesthesia recovery.
Smoke cigarettes – Cigarette smoking irritates your lungs and may increase your secretions, so you may cough a lot after anesthesia. Somebody who has a severe smoking habit could be coming in with oxygen levels that are low, and we need to monitor that.”
Use marijuana – Marijuana smoking has the same risk factors as tobacco smoking. Since it’s a sedative, it also can affect your reaction to anesthesia. You may require more, you may require less, so we need to know about it.
Drink alcohol – The use of alcohol affects how you’ll interact with the anesthesia and the quantity needed. Whether it’s a beer a day or six beers a day, we’re not here to judge you. That information allows us to determine how you will react.
Snore – This might be a surprising item on the list, but snoring is a potential risk factor for sleep apnea. If the patient has sleep apnea, we try to avoid or minimize opioids, because they have a harder time basically waking up from the anesthesia. They also have an increased risk for events where they stop breathing during the first 24 hours after anesthesia, so we use different modalities for a patient with sleep apnea.
Have had heat stroke or suffered a stroke – Having these in your history means you’re at increased risk of having a severe reaction to anesthesia called malignant hyperthermia. If this in your overall family history, we should know about it.
Have had a reaction to anesthesia – This is one of the big things. If you’ve had an allergic reaction or any reaction to anesthesia, we can change our anesthetic plan to prevent that from happening again.