Despite the constant noise of the ICU, Mr. Charles C. felt safe and was impressed with the efficiency of the clinical team.

Nonostante il rumore costante della terapia intensiva, il signor Charles C. si è sentito al sicuro ed è stato colpito dall'efficienza del team clinico.

Ricordo  sfortunato! No, ricordo l'efficienza e la facilità con cui si operava. Sentivi di essere in mani molto buone e sicure. Questa è una delle impressioni che ho. La seconda impressione è che era frustrante, difficile dormire di notte a causa del trambusto che c'era, a causa delle discussioni fuori dalla stanza e, sapete. Ho commentato un paio di volte. Ma. Quindi due impressioni: uno, si prendono davvero cura di te. Due, il suono non sembra essere una cosa importante. Perché hanno un sacco di cose da fare. E quindi, di notte, quando dovresti dormire, non riesci a dormire.  Quindi due piccole cose.

Il Signor Charles C parla dell'efficienza dell'ICU.

Malgré le bruit constant de l'USI, Monsieur  Charles C. s'est senti en sécurité et  a été impressionné par l'efficacité de l'équipe clinique.

Je me souviens de malheureux ! Non, je me souviens de l'efficacité et de la facilité avec lesquelles les gens opéraient. Vous aviez l'impression d'être entre de très bonnes mains, en sécurité. C'est la première impression que j'ai. La deuxième impression est qu'il était frustrant, difficile de dormir la nuit à cause de l'agitation, des discussions à l'extérieur de la chambre et, vous savez. J'ai fait des commentaires à ce sujet à quelques reprises. Mais. Donc deux impressions : un, ils prennent vraiment soin de vous. Deux, le bruit ne semble pas être une chose importante. Parce qu'ils ont beaucoup de choses à faire. Et donc, la nuit, quand vous êtes censé dormir, vous ne pouvez pas dormir.  Vous savez, donc deux petites choses.

M. Charles C parle de l'efficacité de l'équipe clinique.

Trotz des ständigen Lärms auf der Intensivstation fühlte sich Herr Charles C. sicher und war beeindruckt von der Effizienz des klinischen Teams.

Unglücklicherweise  erinnere ich mich! Nein, ich erinnere mich an die Effizienz und die Leichtigkeit, mit der die Leute arbeiteten. Man hatte das Gefühl, dass man in sehr guten und sicheren Händen war. Das ist der eine Eindruck, den ich habe. Der zweite Eindruck ist, es war frustrierend und schwierig  wegen der Unruhe, die vor sich ging, wegen der Diskussionen außerhalb des Zimmers, nachts zu schlafen und Sie wissen schon. Ich habe mich ein paar Mal dazu geäußert. Aber. Also zwei Eindrücke: Erstens, sie kümmern sich wirklich um einen. Zweitens, der Ton scheint nicht so wichtig zu sein. Denn die haben viel zu tun. Und deshalb kann man nachts, wenn man eigentlich schlafen sollte, nicht schlafen.  Wissen Sie, so zwei kleine Dinge.

Herr Charles C. spricht über die Effizienz der Intensivstation.

Corine

I remember unfortunate! No,  I remember the efficiency and the ease with which people operated. You felt that you were in very good and safe hands. That’s one impression that I have. The second impression is, it was frustratingly,  difficult to sleep at night because of the commotion going on,  because of the discussions outside the room and,  you know. I commented about it a few times. But. So two impressions: one, they really take care of you. Two, sound doesn’t seem to be an important thing. Because they got lots of things to do. And therefore, at night when you’re supposed to be asleep, you can’t be asleep, you know so two little things.

Mr. Charles C. talks about the efficiency of the ICU.

Patients generally have a good impression of the clinical team, which they consider professional and very active. They are often confused about what is going on, and tired because of the severity of their illness. Noise and lights may bother them, but they usually feel safe in this intensive care unit.

Patient’s typical perceptions

Today's medical and technological advances allow patients to survive serious and life-threatening illnesses. Experiencing such a serious illness that requires intensive care treatment can have a profound impact on one's life.

In this section, you can learn how other people experienced their time in an intensive care unit. In short video or text excerpts, patients and their families share their experiences with a serious, often life-threatening illness and treatment in an intensive care unit. You can also learn about the changes those affected deal with after their time in the intensive care unit.

Grazie alle possibilità mediche e tecniche offerte dalla terapia intensiva, oggi un paziente può sopravvivere a malattie gravi che in passato erano mortali. L’esperienza di queste gravi condizioni di salute e l’esperienza della terapia intensiva possono cambiare la vita in modo radicale, sia ai pazienti che ai loro cari.

In questa sezione potete capire come altri pazienti hanno vissuto il loro periodo in un reparto di terapia intensiva. In brevi video o estratti di testo, i pazienti raccontano la loro permanenza in questo reparto, il modo in cui hanno gestito questo periodo della loro vita, e come questa esperienza li ha cambiati.

Esperienze in terapia intensiva

Les possibilités médicales et techniques permettent de plus en plus souvent aux patients de survivre à des maladies graves et autrefois mortelles. L’expérience par les patients de ces maladies graves et de leur prise en charge médicale en soins intensifs peuvent changer la vie d’une manière très mémorable.

Dans cette section, vous découvrirez comment d’autres personnes ont vécu leur séjour dans une unité de soins intensifs. Dans de courts extraits vidéo ou textuels, les patients rendent compte de leur séjour à l’unité de soins intensifs. Ils témoignent également des changements qui peuvent se produire dans la vie d’une personne après les soins intensifs.

Expérience en médecine de soins intensifs

Die heutigen medizinischen und technischen Möglichkeiten lassen Patient*innen schwere und lebensbedrohliche Erkrankungen überstehen. Die Erfahrung einer so schweren Erkrankung, die eine intensivmedizinischen Behandlung benötigt, kann das Leben sehr einprägsam verändern.

Wie andere Menschen die Zeit auf einer Intensivstation erlebt haben, können Sie in dieser Sektion erfahren. In kurzen Video- oder Textausschnitten berichten Patient*innen und Angehörige,  über die Erfahrungen einer schweren oft lebensbedrohlichen Erkrankung und einer Behandlung auf einer Intensivstation. Ebenso können Sie erfahren, mit welchen Veränderungen die Betroffenen sich nach der Zeit auf der Intensivstation auseinandersetzen.

Erfahrungen Intensivmedizin

Experiences in Intensive Care

Susanne

Mr. Charles C. used headphones to avoid being bothered by the noise.

E: And the only other negative that I have was  that a hospital functions 24 hours a day. Everyone is working and doing things 24 hours a day. The norm is that one tries to sleep during the night, but the people who are working 24 hours a day carry on as if there is no day and night. So noise disturbance is quite frequent. And I found that particularly in (location 1). And in the end, I would put on noise cancellation headphones if I was trying to sleep at night. Because, you know, whether it was two people outside in the common space who were talking at a distance and giggling and joking about things, the noise disturbance was there. And I mentioned it a few times and, you know, I got the feeling that I was just being a grumpy old man and maybe I was.

Mr. Charles C. used headphones against noise.

The intensive care unit is bustling with activity. Clinical teams are busy with intensive patient care and emergencies. The environment is dominated by machines and modern technology that enable survival in critical illness.  In addition, there are team conversations and sounds from neighboring patients. This leads to noise, light, which can be disturbing for the patients.

Perception of the environment of the intensive care unit

Mr. Charles C. remembers very unpleasant hallucinations of smell and taste.

And there, it was a more difficult thing. I was in a coma for four days and I was losing weight and it was difficult to feed me. And I was on morphine quite heavily. And that gave me all sorts of problems: one, the most severe, was the sense of smell and of taste, which I reckon was augmented a hundred times. So, one little grain of sugar in water was impossible to drink. Smells, I could / I felt I could smell like a wolf smells. I could / I knew what was happening around me, not from a directional point of view, but that was very difficult.  And,  the only problem I had there then, was getting over to the people who were dealing with me:   that I couldn’t eat these things or drink these things, because the taste was too strong. And each time I would take a glass of even water, or orange juice, I would be vomiting, because of the strength of the taste. That was something that I found in, you know. It was I guess about a day and a half before I really managed to convince someone that I wasn’t exaggerating. And we think that the reason was the morphine, but it may not have been. It may have been swollen mouth or whatever.

Mr. Charles C. suffered from an olfactory hallucination.

Many patients report experiences that can be associated with hallucinations and confusion. These  memories are often present for months after hospitalization.

Delusion/hallucination/ dreams/anxiety.

Because he was not in a coma, Mr. Charles C. remembered his ICU stay.

I: What do you remember, is really what you remember yourself or it’s what people have said to you after? 
E: No, it’s what I remember myself. I usually write up these experiences and just keep a note what I need to remember. And then afterwards of course, a year later you still have impressions of what happened, which is what I gave you to start with. But it’s what I remember, not what other people were telling me. 

I: And so you told me you have taken some notes. 

E: Yes, I was reading them earlier this morning for the intensive care that I had in 2012 in the (name of the hospital) and there, it’s, I made more precise notes. This time, in (location 1) it was really not necessary because there wasn’t very much to write down. It was just a matter of keeping a check on the monitors behind me and it was that sort of thing that I was doing.

Mr. Charles C. remained awake in the ICU and remembers well.

Our interviewees often have to deal with memory gaps. Their descriptions are a mixture of what they experienced themselves,what is added afterwards by relatives or team members, or feelings/emotions to which they give words afterwards. Regardless of these limitations, it is important to note that these memories represent real experiences for the patient.

Forgetting: remembering with the help of other people.

Mr. Charles C. sometimes felt lonely and insecure at night because the team did not come immediately.

E : Isolated and / isolated would also mean a little bit insecure, but there was one incident at the (name of the hospital). I was there in intensive care at the same time as (-) someone whose name I will mention, because he was outside and everyone knows it, XXXX  who was the mastermind of the Montreux festival, had had a bad skiing accident and he was in intensive care next to me at the same time and in fact he died while he was there. So, I think that he was I think he was a much more difficult case to deal with than me and required quite a bit of attention as they were trying to save him. And I // on one night, I just could not get anyone to come. I sounded, and sounded, and sounded, I forget what it was, the reason I wanted someone. But no one came. And I could actually / I have a memory, I could see (them) in the next room, but // that was a time when I felt alone, there was nothing I could do. I wasn’t allowed to get out of bed, nothing I could do about it. But it happened just once.

The team did not come quickly enough

Readiness to communicate from the team: Patients have the feeling of being ignored, isolated,  considered as not being to able understand.Sometimes the patients had the feeling that the team was arrogant and felt threatened.

Readiness to communicate from the team

Mr. Charles C. says that he sometimes found it difficult to make the clinical team understand that what he was feeling, whatever the cause, was powerful and disturbing.

E : Yeah, 2012 was burned. My hands and a little bit my face. And that was more serious, because I was affected physically. I mean I was in (location 1), but I didn’t feel it at all. And the (-) there, it was a more difficult thing. I was in a coma for four days and I was losing weight and it was difficult to feed me. And I was on morphine quite heavily. And that gave me all sorts of problems uhm one, the most severe, was the sense of smell and of taste, which I reckon was augmented a hundred times. So, one little grain of sugar in water was impossible to drink. Smells, I could / I felt I could smell like a wolf smells. I could / I knew what was happening around me, not from a directional point of view, but uhm that was very difficult and it // and the only problem I had there then, was getting over to the people who were dealing with me (-) that I couldn’t eat these things or drink these things, because the taste was too strong. And each time I would take a glass of even (water) down, orange juice, I would be vomiting, because of the strength of the taste. That was something that I found in you know / it was I guess about a day and a half before I really managed to convince someone that I wasn’t exaggerating. And we think that the reason was the morphine, but it may not have been. It may have been swollen mouth or whatever.
I : You were able to speak?
E : Oh I was able to speak, yes. Yes, I had no problem with that. I was fully / when I’d come out of the coma, I was fully conscious and alert. But I had problems with the taste and the smell (-) and the nights with hallucinations all the way through the nights, ugh awful! But apart from that, the physical support was fabulous. I mean, I had never been through that experience before, but the // being in soins intensifs in the (name of the hospital), was very very good.

Misunderstanding is disturbing

Patients sometimes find it difficult to organise their information because their situation in the ICU is not properly explained. The result is a feeling of uncertainty and sometimes panic.

Possible misunderstandings

Mr. Charles C. didn't have the strength to fight the medical decisions, but in the end he understood that it was for his own good.

E : No, the only thing I recall of that was again in the (name of the hospital) when I had this tube going down my throat because I think. I cannot remember the details and he wanted to take it out and I was, I was saying you know please don’t, please don’t, this is gonna hurt. And the nurse said no, no, we have to do it, we have to do it. And my wife was there as well at the time, and they did. But I really didn’t want them to. But he was right and he had to do it, you know, it was all there was. No, I cannot think of a single instant where they wanted to do something that I didn’t want them to, where I was, where I was right and they were wrong. There was not a single instant, they were always right and they did it nicely.

Decisions must be explained

Patients want to be involved in decisions, but they do not always have the capacity to understand and contribute. To gain confidence in the decision, patients want information about what is happening in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Charles C.

Mr. Charles C. talks about the efficiency of the ICU.

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Charles C.

Charles C.