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Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

trevorklee.substack.com

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Re: Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

#381
post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Father of four here, had one two months ago. > It also doesn’t help that dads aren’t the patient after a birth, so they aren’t fed or given a bed. Yes, and? You're free to go to the cafeteria and buy food or leave and go buy food. And there's usually at least a chair. What do you expect, a Marriott?

The father is the wife (and baby's) advocate in the hospital, and should leave as little as possible. You need to be there for every test and consultation. So yah, they should be bringing the father food, and there should be a bed for him because the father is critical in having good care for the wife.

I made do, so can you (and all the other dads).

Re: Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

#382
post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing! Even outside the medical field, it seems like most humans are pretty bad about both writing down and consulting notes. Even worse for the notes written by another human. We really aren't particularly good at transferring knowledge / experience and it takes a lot of effort to do a good job of it, so most people don't even make much of an effort. This really seems like a problem that still needs a l…

I liked the way you framed this as something universal. Is there any field where one can quickly reference knowledge from your peers to just as quickly solve a problem in practice? Maybe it's asking too much. Though I suppose it wouldn't be necessary to get everyone on board with such an idea if you have that single coordinator who everyone knows as the reference point. Although, if you think about it, even then that…

Indeed, seemingly simple functionality like you describe should be bare-minimum requirement for just about any kind of information system, and yet it's almost always omitted or implemented so terribly as to negate any practical benefit to users.

Re: Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

#383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before you jump the gun like that again: The context is most likely about the suffering of the patient in question from simply existing in that state, and there being no way to alleviate the suffering (only prolonging the life). Not about saving money. So it’s a lose-lose: the patient suffers and society has to pay for their privilege to suffer (without recourse, most likely). And maybe you disagree fundamentally wit…

Before you jump the gun again... > Not about saving money Then why even bring it up, let alone cite it as something that change[ds] one's views? > maybe you disagree fundamentally with things like assisted suicide In fact I do not. There was a time when my mother wanted to end it, and I wasn't the one who stopped her. I respected her right to make her own choice. Her condition subsequently improved to the point where…

I think the part you’re missing is that the loved one died years ago but the body is being kept alive. There’s no personality left. Everything’s gone.

Alzheimer’s and dementia are incredibly cruel experiences for everyone involved. There’s no reason to prolong the situation.

Re: Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

#385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The AAMC should increase the number of students they admit. The average medical school is turning away 95% of applicants. The top 10 schools in America are excepting <2.5%.

excepting?

Goofed that one up...

Accepting

Re: Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

#386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What percent of patients have a medical need to be woken up every few hours then?

pretty much every patient in the intensive care unit - that’s kind of what the “intensive” is referring to. If nothing else, you either take the blood pressure the normal way with a pressure cuff, which is going to wake you up. Or you put an intra arterial catheter, which reads continuously without bothering the patient, but has a small risk of damage to the vessel, infection etc

Based on my knowledge of US based urban (downtown) / suburban metro hospitals - vast majority of beds / patients aren't in ICU/CCU beds. I would say only 30% are in a critical state under observation - ICU/CCU/post-op/etc.

Re: Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU

#387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It had never been this simple. A child dying is pretty universally seen as worse than an 85 year old dying.

I feel like the greatest tragedy of them all is a 53 year old person dying. Why 53? No reason. No reason at all. I may change my view on this in a few months however.

When you turn 54?
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