Primary palliative care recommendations for critical care clinicians

• Published in: Journal of intensive care Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 20 - 8
• Main Authors: Ito, Kaori, George, Naomi, Wilson, Jennifer, Bowman, Jason, Aaronson, Emily, Ouchi, Kei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 15.04.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Anxiety; Blood & organ donations; Care and treatment; Communication; Critical care; Education; Evidence-based medicine; Hospital patients; Illnesses; Intensive care; Intervention; Length of stay; Methods; Mortality; Palliative care; Palliative treatment; Patient-centered care; Patients; Physicians; Review; Social support; United States > US
• ISSN: 2052-0492; 2052-0492
• DOI: 10.1186/s40560-022-00612-9

Palliative care is an interdisciplinary care to optimize physical, psychosocial, and spiritual symptoms of patients and their families whose quality of life is impaired by serious, life-limiting illness. In 2021, the importance of providing palliative care in the intensive care unit (ICU) is well recognized by various studies to alleviate physical symptoms due to invasive treatments, to set patient-centered goals of care, and to provide end-of-life care. This paper summarizes the evidence known to date on primary palliative care delivered in the ICU settings. We will then discuss the potential benefits and harms of primary palliative care so that critical care clinicians are better equipped to decide what services might best improve the palliative care needs in their ICUs.