News and updates

ICUsteps is proud to announce the release of a major new information resource for family and friends of patients in critical care. End of Life in Intensive Care is a important addition to our library of patient and relative information sheets. Though most critical care patients survive, sadly this isn't always the case. This publication fills a gap for those facing this outcome and provides helpful information about what happens when someone might be at the end of life in an ICU, what to expect and how relatives, family and friends can support the patient and themselves.

ICUsteps' Catherine White tells the story behind the production of End of Life in Intensive Care. Produced in collaboration with healthcare professionals and family representation, she explains why this information is so desperately needed.

The BACCN & IACCN 1st Joint Annual Conference takes place on 17th & 18th October 2022, ICC Belfast. This year's theme is “Critical Care Across the World - Breaking down barriers”

Many intensive care patients do not receive the support they need once they are discharged from hospital. Intensive care treatment saves lives, but we urgently need better provision in place to rebuild those lives once patients are home

People from black and minority ethnic groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with many needing prolonged stays in intensive care.

There is often little or no awareness from community healthcare professionals and the general public about the aftermath of critical illness for patients and their families. The experience of critical care can be brutal for patients, with delirium, confusion and distressing treatments. And as FICM’s position statement makes clear, the aftermath includes problems with breathing, eating and digestion, extreme fatigue and weakness, hair loss, significant psychological distress, impaired cognitive abilities (such as inability to concentrate or to think clearly), sexual dysfunction and an array of other issues.

Dr Lee Cutler, a Critical Care Consultant Nurse from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals knows firsthand the impact that critical illness has on patients and their relatives – and has come up with an innovative way to help explain the process to them. We asked Lee to tell us more...

I’ve been a nurse on the Intensive Care Unit for two years, and one of the most challenging parts of my job is ensuring that families receive the best possible support. There are so many demands on my time during a shift, and juggling that time between patient care, and supporting a family who I can see are distressed and hurting, becomes a delicate balancing act. This article is a reflective piece ...

ICUsteps Newport has been up and running since August 2014. It has been an eventful year with many highs but also accompanied by some lows. The group began its journey several months before the first August meeting following a journey to Milton Keynes to meet up with their group with the view to starting ours...

Intensive care patient diaries are a simple but valuable tool in helping patients come to terms with their critical illness experience. Patients who've had a stay in ICU may be kept sedated for some time while they're mechanically ventilated. After discharge from ICU they often report having gaps in their memory from their illness or they may remember nightmares, hallucinations or feelings that people were trying to hurt them...

UCCDIP (User Centred Critical Care Discharge Information Pack) is an information pack produced as part of a research project led by Suzanne Bench of Kings College London to help improve the transition between ICU and the general ward. An important element of the UCCDIP pack is the inclusion of a patient discharge summary...