The family visits were very helpful to Mr Georges G.

Le visite dei familiari sono state molto utili per il signor Georges G.

E : Sì, allora mi portavano una piccola bacinella, degli asciugamani, un po' di sapone e mi lavavo da solo. C'era un'assistente infermiera che veniva a pulirmi un po' la schiena e poi i piedi, perché lì non riuscivamo ad arrivare, ma ce la cavavamo abbastanza bene. Ma questo è successo dopo, praticamente dopo due giorni, non subito. Quando dovevo stare immobile, non era un problema, no. Mi sembra che sia stato dopo. Mi sembra anche di essere rimasto in terapia intensiva forse un po' più a lungo di quanto avrei potuto, perché ero comunque in condizioni relativamente buone. Ma ecco, penso che forse non valesse la pena di mettermi in una stanza prima di tornare a casa mia o altrove. Quindi la mia prima esperienza in terapia intensiva è stata quella di essere stato al pronto soccorso, in terapia intensiva e poi sono uscito dalla terapia intensiva per andare a casa mia, quindi è un po', ecco, non è la strada normale, credo. Ehm, cos'altro posso dirvi? No, poi vengono a trovarmi i miei cari, i miei figli, mia moglie, eccetera, i miei amici, mio fratello, quindi questo rende un po' più piacevole la giornata.  Dato che in terapia intensiva non si riceve molte visite, è piacevole ricevere persone quando è possibile, cioè praticamente sempre. 
I : Praticamente sempre?
E : Praticamente sempre. Mia moglie è rimasta con me la sera abbastanza a lungo, fino alle 22, quando volevamo. E mio fratello è venuto da solo durante il giorno perché lavorava, era di passaggio e ha potuto venirmi a trovare. È stato piacevole, beh, non ero in condizioni critiche.

I parenti sono utili

Les visites de la famille ont été utiles à M. Georges G.

E : Oui alors pour cela, on m’apportait un petit bol, des serviettes, un peu de savon et puis je me nettoyais moi-même. Il y a une aide-infirmière qui est venue me nettoyer le dos un petit peu et puis les pieds parce que voilà les pieds on y arrivait pas, mais on se débrouillait assez bien. Mais ça, ça s’est passé après, pratiquement après deux jours. Pratiquement, pas tout de suite. Quand je devais rester immobile, ça n’a pas joué ça, non. Il me semble que c’est après. Je suis resté aussi il me semble aux soins intensifs peut-être un petit plus longtemps que ce que j’aurais pu rester parce que j’étais quand même dans un état qui était relativement bien. Mais voilà, je pense que ça valait peut-être pas la peine de me mettre dans une chambre avant que je reparte chez moi ou ailleurs. Ce qui fait que la première expérience aux soins intensifs, c’est que j’ai été aux urgences, aux soins intensifs et puis je suis parti des soins intensifs pour aller chez moi quoi, donc c’est un peu,  voilà, c’est pas la voie habituelle, je crois. Euh qu’est-ce que je peux vous dire d’autre? Non après j’ai des proches qui viennent, mes enfants qui viennent, ma femme etcétéra mes amis, mon frère donc ça agrémente un petit peu la journée.  Comme aux soins intensifs, on ne reçoit pas trop de monde, on peut, c’est agréable de recevoir des gens à peu près quand c’est possible, ça veut dire à peu près à tout temps quoi. 
I : À peu près tout le temps?
E : À peu près en tout temps quoi. Ma femme est restée avec moi le soir assez longtemps, jusqu’à même 22 heures si on veut bien. Donc et mon frère il est venu tout seul en pleine journée parce qu’il travaillait, il passait par là, il a pu venir me voir. Ça c’est agréable, bon j’étais dans un état qui n’était pas critique.

Les proches sont une aide précieuse

Die Besuche der Familie waren für Herrn Georges G. hilfreich.

E : Ja, also dafür brachte man mir eine kleine Schüssel, Handtücher, ein bisschen Seife und dann reinigte ich mich selbst. Es gab eine Krankenpflegehelferin, die kam, um mir den Rücken ein wenig zu reinigen und dann die Füße, weil wir es mit den Füßen nicht geschafft haben, aber wir haben es ganz gut hinbekommen. Aber das kam erst später, praktisch nach zwei Tagen. Praktisch, nicht sofort. Als ich stillhalten musste, spielte das keine Rolle, nein. Es scheint mir, dass es danach war. Ich blieb auch, wie mir scheint, auf der Intensivstation, vielleicht ein bisschen länger als ich hätte bleiben können, denn ich war immer noch in einem relativ guten Zustand. Aber ich denke, dass es sich vielleicht nicht gelohnt hat, mich in ein Zimmer zu stecken, bevor ich nach Hause oder woanders hingegangen bin. Das heißt, die erste Erfahrung auf der Intensivstation war, dass ich in der Notaufnahme war, auf der Intensivstation und dann von der Intensivstation nach Hause gegangen bin, also ist das ein bisschen, na ja, nicht der übliche Weg, glaube ich. Was kann ich Ihnen sonst noch sagen? Nein, ich habe Verwandte, die kommen, meine Kinder, meine Frau und meine Freunde, mein Bruder, das macht den Tag ein bisschen schöner.  Da wir auf der Intensivstation nicht allzu viele Leute empfangen können, es ist schön, Leute zu empfangen, wenn es möglich ist, das heißt, fast immer. 
I : So ziemlich die ganze Zeit?
E : So ziemlich zu jeder Zeit. Meine Frau ist abends ziemlich lange bei mir geblieben, bis 22 Uhr, wenn man so will. Also mein Bruder ist mitten am Tag alleine gekommen, weil er gearbeitet hat, er ist vorbeigekommen und konnte mich besuchen. Das war schön, ich war in einem nicht kritischen Zustand.

Corine

E : Yes, so for that, they brought me a small bowl, towels, a little soap and then I cleaned myself. There was a nurse's assistant who came to clean my back a little and then my feet because we couldn't reach the feet, but we managed quite well. But that happened later, practically after two days. Practically, not immediately. When I had to remain motionless, it didn't work like that, no. I think it was afterwards. I also think that I stayed in intensive care maybe a little longer than I could have stayed because I was still in a relatively good condition. But you see, I don't think it was worth putting me in a room before I went home or somewhere else. So the first experience in intensive care was that I was in the emergency room, in intensive care and then I left intensive care to go home, so it's a bit,  well, it's not the usual route, I think. What else can I tell you? No, after that I have relatives who come, my children who come, my wife, etc., my friends, my brother, so it brightens up the day a little.  As in intensive care, we don't get too many visitors, it's nice to be able to have people visit whenever possible, which means pretty much any time. 
I : Pretty much all the time?
E : Pretty much all the time. My wife stayed with me in the evening for quite a long time, until 10 p.m. if you don't mind. So my brother came by himself in the middle of the day because he was working, he was passing by, he was able to come and see me. That's nice, well I was in a non-critical condition.

Relatives are helpful

Family and friends are helpful during the ICU stay. But patients want to be able to choose their visitors. It is therefore important that the team informs and involves the family.

Contact with family

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 Georges G. has very positive memories of the ICU: a wonderful welcome, a very professional clinical team.

Yes, so I have memories; I have a lot of positive memories. So I remember the welcome, the attention that was given to me, the desire to be clear in the messages that were transmitted, whether by the doctors, or by the nursing staff, so nurses and other specifications. A really wonderful welcome. And I have to say, well I don't know if I can tell you this like this, but it's a perfect contrast to what I experienced when I was three years old. I had a tonsil operation in the hospital, it was the last time I was in the hospital and it went really, really badly. And for me the hospital is hell. So maybe in contrast, the experience I had, which was maybe ordinary, I don't know, was wonderful. So I was taken care of in a very professional way, assured, reassured and I trusted them and it went very well.

Mr. Georges G. praises the professionalism of the clinical team.

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. George G. is confused because he woke up in a different place and can't remember how he got there.

No, if I stay with the first experience in intensive care, I would say no. And what comes to mind is maybe the second experience in the ICU, well when I was operated on with narcosis. I remember when I went from the bed to the operating table, because I gave a hand to move me on the operating table. And then I remember afterwards waking up somewhere else, in a bed somewhere else, and I remember not giving a hand to move from the operating table to the bed. And I was told if, if you helped. And that challenged me because I said to myself I did things that I don't remember. I may have collaborated, but I don't remember, something happened during a time when I wasn't there. 
So now, all of a sudden it's maybe, it's an awkward feeling. It's awkward. It's awkward because you think, "Oh my, things happened while I was not conscious. I even participated and I don't remember anything." And that's an unpleasant feeling. But for a good cause, in a good case, in a good context, it can pass, but I have to admit, this is a flash that came back to me when you asked me the question.

Mr. Georges G.is troubled by the absence of certain memories.

There is no typical way to wake up in an ICU after coma or sedation. In fact, patients are usually confused, have lost track of time and do not immediately know where they are.  Their unfamiliar surroundings take them by surprise and are sometimes unpleasant: In some cases, patients cannot speak, are thirsty and feel helpless.

Waking up in the ICU.

Mr. Georges G. was conscious in the intensive care unit and has positive memories of communication with the staff.

E : No. As they say, positive memories generally leave less of an impression than perhaps, perhaps negative memories. I don't really have any negative memories, I was treated well and very happy. No, the interaction with the staff was interesting. Every time I asked a question, I either got the answer straight away or they came back to me with an answer. I had lost some feeling which I still haven't recovered because I fell on my right side, and then the whole right side went: knee, hip, elbow, shoulder, etc. And I had lost some feeling here, so I asked if that was normal or not, and then we looked it up and found the explanation, saying that yes, as I had had a nerve that was severed here, I might not have the same feeling in the muscle. That's it. But it's nothing, nothing at all. I can't get any more information than that from my memories.

Communication is important

Patients want to interact with the team. They want to be respected. If patients can't respond, it doesn't mean they don't understand or don't want to be explained. The care relationship benefits from words, explanations of what the nurse is doing, and multi-sensory listening, even when the patient does not seem to be aware or able to process detailed information.

The team can improve the care relationship with patients

Mr. George G. has learnt a lesson for life.

E : Always the same, a very beautiful experience. I wouldn't wish it on anyone because I don't want to have another accident to have that kind of experience, not at all. But on the other hand, maybe because of my history, I discovered a world I never knew existed. That's probably it. There's also the contrast, which must have played a part somewhere.

A lesson for life

So in order to move on with your life, you need to process and categorise what you have experienced. This is a long process and being discharged from intensive care can be a very stressful time for patients.

Georges G.

Relatives are helpful

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Georges G.

Georges G.