Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Caring for People with Postintensive Care Syndrome.

Abstract

Intensive care unit (ICU) mortality rates have substantially declined over the past few decades. Accordingly, there has been an increase in the number of ICU survivors, who are often burdened by long-term sequelae and high morbidity following their discharge. The term postintensive care syndrome (PICS) was first coined in 2012 to describe this constellation of physical, psychological, and cognitive sequelae, which may persist long after acute care hospitalization and may also affect family members. In this context, the timely integration and delivery of palliative care has the potential to alleviate the suffering experienced by both ICU survivors and their families. In this article, an interdisciplinary team presents ten tips to describe PICS and enhance the quality of care for palliative care clinicians caring for people with PICS.