Ten practical strategies for effective communication with relatives of ICU patients.

Abstract

Intensive care units (ICUs) manage critically ill patients at high risk of death or morbidity. For relatives of ICU patients, the experience can be extremely difficult, both during and after the ICU episode. Up to 70 % of family members (irrespective of patient survival) may develop psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, sleep disruption and post-traumatic stress disorder [1–7] known as ‘post-intensive care syndrome-family’ [4]. Poor communication experiences may contribute to preventable adverse psychological outcomes [3, 4, 7]. In this article we review the impact of critical illness on relatives and provide ten practical strategies to optimise communication with ICU relatives.