SCCM Resource Library-Quality of Conversations Impacts Quality of Care

Pdf Summary

In the winter 2024 issue of CriticalConnections, the importance of optimizing conversations in the ICU is highlighted. Quality conversations between patients, clinicians, and surrogates are crucial for decision-making in critical care. These conversations can impact the quality of care provided, as they help elicit values, convey treatment options, and facilitate informed consent. Despite their importance, the training and emphasis on conducting these difficult conversations are often lacking in clinical training programs. Challenges such as complex medical issues and prognostic uncertainty make conducting meaningful conversations even more difficult. Developing expertise in communication skills, including empathy and active listening, is essential for clinicians to provide goal-concordant care.<br /><br />Recommendations include structuring conversations using a communication framework, focusing on personal connections, eliciting goals, and providing information in a comprehensible manner. It is suggested to describe medical conditions and prognosis, discuss treatment options, and involve patients and families in decision-making. Training clinicians in communication skills, implementing measurement tools, and monitoring communication practices are vital steps to improving the quality of conversations in the ICU setting. Ultimately, optimizing conversational skills can have a direct impact on the quality of critical care provided, emphasizing the importance of effective communication in healthcare.

Asset Subtitle

Quality and Patient Safety, 2024, 00:09:21

Asset Caption

"This article was first published in the Winter 2024 issue of Critical Connections.

Optimizing patient- and family-centered care involves optimizing the quality of conversations between patients and clinicians in the ICU. Good-quality conversations can elicit values and goals, convey treatment options and challenges, facilitate informed consent (or informed refusal) for interventions, and help to understand risk-benefit ratio assessments and prognostic uncertainties.

Critical Connections, the critical care industry’s only newsmagazine, provides information on cutting-edge topics in critical care useful to the entire multiprofessional team."

Meta Tag

Content Type Article

Knowledge Area Quality and Patient Safety

Membership Level Associate

Membership Level Professional

Membership Level Select

Tag Communication

Year 2024

Keywords

ICU conversations

critical care decision-making

communication skills training

empathy in healthcare

surrogate decision-making

goal-concordant care

medical prognosis discussion

communication framework

healthcare communication improvement

ICU communication practices

Article

Quality and Patient Safety

Communication

2024

Associate

Professional

Select

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