[Communication with patients' relatives in intensive care]

Abstract

The place of relatives of our patients is the deepest change in intensive care units in 20 years. Working on collegial discussions and recognizing the voices of patients and their loved ones in care projects have become a mandatory part of our daily work. This change is also related to the attention and time given to ethical decisions in the daily life of resuscitation. We need to recognize the need for trust in the health care system as well as with medical providers so that the therapeutic relationship can be achieved peacefully. We must therefore organize ourselves to improve reception of the families, place of the team members, regular formal meetings of information with relatives or the representative of our patient. Post-traumatic stress is not only a prerogative of our patients, it is also described in accompanying people. If trust is acquired few conflicts are challenging, only interfamily conflicts force medical team to defend its opinion. The realization that a specific care project after intensive care is more likely to succeed when it is done with the support of the entourage makes possible to understand the importance to take care to the stress of the relatives.

Keywords: Care project; Family conflicts; Intensive care unit; Post traumatic stress syndrome; Relatives.

Figure 1

Exemples de personnalisation retrouvés sur les murs des chambres de réanimation de nos patients démontrant l’hétérogénéité des familles et des patients, dans des situations similaires de réanimation. A : jeune papa, 35 ans, polytraumatisme ; B : hématome intracérébral, homme, 75 ans ; C : traumatisme crânien grave, homme, 19 ans. Le dialogue avec les familles doit tenir compte de ce qu’elles ont de communs et de ce qu’elles ont de différents. Ces exemples soulignent l’importance de tenir compte de l’environnement pour dialoguer avec les proches et construire un projet de sortie adapté à chaque patient de réanimation.