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Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME where we help long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy to improve their Quality of life and where we also help hospitals and Intensive Care Units to save money and resources, whilst providing Quality Care!
In last week’s blog I wrote about “Why an empty Intensive Care bed is worth some money and creates a more Patient and Family centred model of care!” You can read, watch or listen to last week’s update by clicking on the link here.
In this week’s blog I want to give you a real world example and I want to talk about “Going HOME from Intensive Care after a STROKE, a REAL WORLD example”.
Today I want to talk about a Client who has been at Home after he suffered a stroke while he was in his early forties. The gentleman ended up being wheelchair bound and paraplegic as he had other co-morbidities as well. He wasn’t a well man to start off with, however the stroke made things worse and he ended up in Intensive Care for a couple of months after the stroke hit him. The reason he stayed in ICU for so long was simply that he was unable to be weaned off his ventilation and he required a Tracheostomy.
Going home as a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care
Fast forward the gentleman and his Family didn’t want to stay in Intensive Care and eventually he was able to leave ICU, go home and be looked after by a specialised Intensive Home Care nursing service such as INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME.
The alternative would have been an even longer stay in Intensive Care and as you can imagine the Client and their Family were very pleased with going home. The Intensive Care Unit was fully supportive of this man going home, as they didn’t want to leave him in ICU for any longer, since specialised Intensive Home Care Nursing services had become a reality and they were able to take over the care of this man and his family.
Letting long-term ventilated Patients go home creates an empty bed in the ICU
The Intensive Care Unit could also see what Home Care can provide to their Patients and Families, whilst they could use the empty bed for more acute admissions.
After the gentleman had been transferred home, a daily routine to the man’s and his Family’s liking could be established. He was now also able to get a good night’s sleep since he was in a quiet and peaceful environment and not in a noisy, stressful and busy Intensive Care environment.
Him and his Family knew that by having 24/7 care with Critical care trained nursing staff had given them more Quality of life, freedom, choice and flexibility.
More flexibility and a better Quality of life at home for Patients and their Families!
After about 3 months being at Home, the gentleman finally came off his anti- depressants as his mood and his spirits had improved massively since him and his Family were able to direct his care with the professional support from the Critical Care Nurses from the Intensive Home Care nursing service.
Furthermore, he was then able to recommence work from home on his laptop. The alternative would have been to stay in Intensive Care.
Think about it. By keeping long-term ventilated Adults& Children in Intensive Care we are not giving them the opportunity to develop and play to their strengths. By keeping them hospitalised for too long, their potential and is diminished and inhibited. The same applies to their Families. By keeping their loved ones in Intensive Care for longer than necessary, they are suffering too. They are usually putting their lives on hold as well.
By giving long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy the opportunity to go home, everybody wins, like in our example where a Client was able to be productive and by producing an income and by his Family being independent as well.
The alternative? An expensive and burdensome long term stay in Intensive Care maybe even a lost life in Intensive Care due to depression and a fading will to live…
What are your thoughts? Do you think that Home care for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy provides a better alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care? Leave your comments here on the blog or send me an email to [email protected]
Please also note that INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME has been selected as a preferred provider for Queensland Health Services as part of the recent “HOSPITAL IN THE HOME” tender.
You can also contact me on 041 094 2230 if you want to know more about how we can help you, your Intensive Care Unit and your Patients and Families.
Thank you for tuning into this week’s blog.
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME and I’ll see you again in another update next week.