IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jocnur/v23y2014i5-6p623-633.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life after critical illness: an overview

Author

Listed:
  • Janice Rattray

Abstract

Aims and objectives To illustrate the potential physical and psychological problems faced by patients after an episode of critical illness, highlight some of the interventions that have been tested and identify areas for future research. Background Recovery from critical illness is an international problem and as an issue is likely to increase. For some, recovery from critical illness is prolonged, subject to physical and psychological problems that may negatively impact upon health‐related quality of life. Methods The literature accessed for this review includes the work of a number of key researchers in the field of critical care research. These were identified from a number of sources include (1) personal knowledge of the research field accumulated over the last decade and (2) using the search engine ‘The Knowledge Network Scotland’. Results Fatigue and weakness are significant problems for critical care survivors and are common in patients who have been in ICU for more than one week. Psychological problems include anxiety, depression, post‐traumatic stress, delirium and cognitive impairment. Prevalence of these problems is difficult to establish for a number of methodological reasons that include the use of self‐report questionnaires, the number of different questionnaires used and the variation in administration and timing. Certain subgroups of ICU survivors especially those at the more severe end of the illness severity spectrum are more at risk and this has been demonstrated for both physical and psychological problems. Findings from international studies of a range of potential interventions are presented. However, establishing effectiveness for most of these still has to be empirically demonstrated. Conclusion What seems clear is the need for a co‐ordinated, multidisciplinary, designated recovery and rehabilitation pathway that begins as soon as the patient is admitted into an intensive care unit.

Suggested Citation

  • Janice Rattray, 2014. "Life after critical illness: an overview," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(5-6), pages 623-633, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:jocnur:v:23:y:2014:i:5-6:p:623-633
    DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12379
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12379
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jocn.12379?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jocnur:v:23:y:2014:i:5-6:p:623-633. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2702 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.