Chapter 6 – The Do-Not-Intubate Order
Abstract Mrs. Williams is an 82-year-old woman with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, and diastolic heart failure who is admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) with…
Chapter 5 – The Do-Not-Resuscitate Order
Abstract An 81-year-old woman with a history of non-alcoholic cirrhosis, refractory ascites, and previous variceal bleeding was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with septic shock from spontaneous bacterial…
Chapter 3 – Show Me the Data
Abstract Shared decision-making involves using the best scientific evidence available to make a choice together with the patient or their surrogate, while weighing the options against the patient’s values, preferences,…
Chapter 4 – Communication Skills for Critical Care Family Meetings
Abstract Excellent communication is a foundation of shared decision making. As discussed throughout this book, shared decision-making is a collaborative process of (1) exchanging medical and personal information about patients’…
Chapter 7 – Prolonged Ventilator Dependence for the Pulmonary Patient
Abstract Mr. Smith is a 68-year-old man with chronic obstructive lung disease on supplemental oxygen who presented to the emergency department with influenza A and a Staphylococcus aureus superinfection. The…
Chapter 10 – Hypoxic–Ischemic Brain Injury after Cardiac Arrest
Abstract Mr. Jones is a 65-year-old man with a past medical history of coronary artery disease who is admitted after an unwitnessed pulseless electrical activity arrest at home. He achieved…
Chapter 9 – Shared Decision-Making during Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Abstract The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) supports a patient’s respiratory or cardiovascular systems via an oxygenator and pump to enhance native function. Venoarterial support takes blood from a…
Chapter 8 – Renal Replacement Therapy
Abstract A 72-year-old man is brought to the emergency department from his skilled nursing facility for shortness of breath and altered mental status. He is admitted to the medical intensive…
Chapter 2 – How Much Does the Family Want to Be Involved in Decision-Making?
Abstract As advancements in medical therapy improve survival, we are confronted with more patients who either cannot communicate or lack decisional capacity, leaving a more common dependency on collaborations with…
