A positive shift in critical care medicine

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The responsibilities of doctors who specialize in critical care medicine have vastly changed along with the times. Primarily, this field of medicine was focused on ensuring patient survival from severe illnesses. However, the treatments involved looked at the short-term and may come at cost. Some treatments and therapies have adverse effects to the patient’s quality of life after their confinement in the ICU.

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With the advancements made in the field, driven by the input of patients and their relatives, as well as numerous studies on the matter, critical care is moving into a more positive direction in the selection of treatment and therapies.

Because of the shift in priority, the measure of success in critical care now goes beyond ensuring the patient’s survival. Critical care now takes a well-rounded approach that ensures that patients’ quality of life is restored after their time in the ICU. This is achieved through taking into account the input of patients and their relatives, carefully defining any problems that arise, and testing through research hypotheses on the long-term effects of therapies.

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Critical illnesses may have effects on patients that linger even after they have been discharged from the hospital. Taking note of this and preventing such cases is now among the primary concerns of critical care professionals.  

Dr. Lisa Marie Cannon is a known specialist in critical care medicine. For more articles about care for critical illnesses, subscribe to this Facebook page.