An Intensive Care Unit that is family-oriented
Whether patients are experiencing sudden trauma, have severe medical complications or are recovering from surgery, the intensive care unit (ICU) of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is always ready to care for them.
By going beyond their mission in order to provide counselling and support, the ICU teams at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) and the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) had the initiative of bringing a nurse to work exclusively with families in order to help them cope with the stress of having a loved one in intensive care. “Twenty-four hours following the arrival of a patient, the nurse will automatically meet the family, explain her role and make sure they understand the patient’s condition,” says Sylvie Ampleman, ICU nurse manager at the RVH. “Many times we have difficult cases; families are worried, they have questions and we want to make sure we are there to help them during their difficult time.”
In fact, family-centered care was one of the main priorities during the design of the new ICU at the Glen site. “We’re going to have a larger unit with single rooms that will all have natural light. There’s also a family lounge, family sleep rooms and isolations vestibules. Patients will definitely profit from the fact that their families will have more access to the environment,” explains Dr. Peter Goldberg, head of the Department of Critical Care at the MUHC.
While the time spent at the ICU is crucial for the recovery of a patient, Dr. Goldberg believes that the biggest reward for the team is to see a patient leave the unit in much more stable conditions. “We are extremely happy when our patients come back to see us smiling, with a different expression in their faces,” he says. “They’ve put up with a lot of pain and suffering... But they’ve come through and that is a huge accomplishment in their lives.”
In fact, this year the ICU nursing team at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) was recognized for the excellence of its health care services by receiving five awards from the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses. “I am so proud of my team,” says Ampleman. “We work so hard that a recognition like this one brings a different light into our mandate recovery of our patients.”