Abstract
Nancy Kentish-Barnes, PhD; Zoé Cohen-Solal, MS; Lucas Morin, PhD; Virginie Souppart, RN; Frédéric Pochard, MD, PhD; Elie Azoulay, MD, PhD
Highlights
The study by Kentish-Barnes and colleagues[3] in JAMA Network Open is an important contribution to this literature because it highlights the deeply moving lived experiences of family members of patients who died near the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 12 French intensive care units (ICUs).[3]
These narratives share the common thread of disruption and restoration of human connection
ICU clinicians must communicate with families more frequently than usual, using established frameworks of shared decision-making and empathic communication.[5]
Summary
The study by Kentish-Barnes and colleagues[3] in JAMA Network Open is an important contribution to this literature because it highlights the deeply moving lived experiences of family members of patients who died near the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and May 2020) in 12 French ICUs.[3]. Because it was considered necessary to disrupt family presence in the ICU, we must think deeply and creatively about how we can restore meaningful connections among families, patients, and ICU clinicians—and at a distance, if need be. Our challenge is to optimize family-centered ICU care absent the physical presence of family members.[4,5] The study by Kentish-Barnes and colleagues[3] offers some guidance.
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