Ms. Johanna J. recounts memories from a diary written for her by ICU staff.

Mme Johanna J. rapporte des souvenirs à partir d'un carnet de bord  écrit à son sujet par les personnes de l'USI.

J'ai fait / ils sont venus le matin et m'ont demandé si je voulais écouter la radio. J'ai dit oui. Tout le monde savait que nous étions dans un hôpital 1 et je ne voulais écouter que la station de radio 1. J'ai toujours écouté Radio Station_1 et puis, avec le temps, tout le monde l'a su. Ils savaient que lorsqu'ils allumaient la radio, c'était Radio Station_1 et alors j'étais plus calme. A la Clinique_1, on m'a écrit un journal pour l'époque où je ne savais rien. Et une ou deux fois, il est dit qu'ils ont allumé la radio station_1 pour moi et que je me suis calmée, parce que je pouvais entendre les voix / je les ai toujours entendues avant. Elles m'ont calmée.

Mme Johanna J.se souvient grâce à un carnet de bord.

La signora Johanna J. riporta i ricordi di un diario scritto per lei dal personale del reparto di terapia intensiva.

Ho fatto / sono venuti la mattina e mi hanno chiesto se volevo ascoltare la radio. Ho detto di sì. Tutti sapevano che eravamo in Health Institution_1 e io volevo ascoltare solo Radio Station_1. Ho sempre ascoltato Radio Station_1 e poi, col tempo, tutti sapevano. Sapevano che quando accendevano la radio era Radio Station_1 e allora ero più tranquilla. In Health Institution_1 mi hanno scritto un diario per il periodo in cui non sapevo nulla. E una o due volte dice che hanno acceso la stazione radio_1 per me e poi mi sono calmata, perché sento le voci / le ho sempre sentite prima. Mi hanno calmato.

La signora Johanna J. ricorda con l'aiuto di un diario.

Frau Johanna J. berichtet von Erinnerungen aus einem Tagebuch, das das Personal der Intensivstation für sie geschrieben hat.

Ich habe / sie sind am Morgen reingekommen und haben mich gefragt, ob ich Radio hören möchte. Ich habe, ja gesagt. Es haben alle gewusst, wir sind in der Gesundheitsinstitution_1 und ich möchte nur die Radiostation_1 hören. Ich habe immer die Radiostation_1 gehört und dann mit der Zeit haben es alle gewusst. Sie haben gewusst, wenn sie das Radio anmachen, dann die Radiostation_1 und dann war ich auch ruhiger. In der Gesundheitsinstitution_1 haben sie für mich Tagebuch geschrieben für die Zeit, während der ich nichts weiss. Und dort steht ein- oder zweimal drin, sie hätten mir die Radiostation_1 eingestellt und dann hätte ich mich beruhigt, denn die Stimmen höre ich ja / habe ich ja auch schon vorher immer gehört. Die haben mich beruhigt.

Frau Johanna J. erinnert sich mit Hilfe eines Tagebuchs.

I did / they came in in the morning and asked me if I wanted to listen to the radio. I said, yes. They all knew we were in Health Institution_1 and I only wanted to listen to Radio Station_1. I always listened to Radio Station_1 and then with time everyone knew. They knew that if they turned on the radio, then Radio Station_1 and then I was calmer too. In Health Institution_1 they wrote a diary for me for the time when I didn't know anything. And it says once or twice in there that they would have tuned Radio Station_1 for me and then I would have calmed down, because I do hear the voices / have always heard them before. They calmed me down.

Mrs. Johanna J. remembers through a diary.

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.

With the technical and medical possibilities on intensive care a patient can be able to survive life-threatening illnesses. These experiences of critical illness and intensive care medicine are challenging for patients and families. Often experiences made on intensive care unit (ICU) can be life changing.
In small video- or audio-sequences we would like to illustrate the experiences made by patients on ICU and how they handled their stay in this critical situation.
Many patients share their experiences on intensive care unit and show how these experiences influenced their life.

Grazie alle possibilità mediche e tecniche offerte dalla terapia intensiva, oggi un paziente può sopravvivere a malattie gravi e precedentemente 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 scoprire come altre persone hanno vissuto il loro tempo in un’unità di terapia intensiva. In brevi video o estratti di testo, i pazienti raccontano la loro permanenza in terapia intensiva, il modo in cui hanno gestito questo periodo delle loro vite, ed il modo in cui 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

Because Mrs. Johanna J. was so confused, she had great difficulty classifying the situation in the intensive care unit.

I: Tell me about the dreams. What were they like?

E: They were very likely things that I heard from my family. From which I then just made my own story. For example: they were talking about (place_1 ), and that they would have wanted to fly me to the health institution (place_3). Rega (Swiss Air Rescue) was a topic. Then someone told that there was a car accident or something at Migrolino (Swiss convenience store supplier). Then I dreamed that I was downstairs in the Migrolino. Down there was the hospital bed. Rega was refueling down there, waiting for me. Then they put me in the Rega. And then the helicopter kind of crashed, so, the electronics crashed for a moment. There was no light. Then they were able to restart it. Then they drove me to the nursing home to ( place_2). Like so to place_2. Then I was out there in place_2 in a nursing home. I was just lying like that in a hallway (corridor). They didn't have a free bed. It was just in the hallway. Then I had such problems with my lungs and I kept wanting to tell the doctor that, but I couldn't communicate. He didn't understand me. I wanted to tell him that I had something of a cow on my lungs. For whatever reason a cow. I don't know. But, funnily enough, it was always the same doctor.

Mrs. Johanna J. was between dreams and confusion.

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.

Ms Anna A. is disturbed by the proximity and discomfort of the other intensive care patients.

The noise too, a lot of noise. Machines, but not only, people too.  So although everyone was careful to speak to me clearly, but not too loudly. But there was one patient who was in such a state that he was screaming. And that was painful. So of course you are full of compassion for the person in question, but at the same time there are moments when you say to yourself but if he could just shut up. Finally, quite (-) contradictory feelings, mixed. On the one hand compassion and then on the other hand, but if he would just shut up.

Mrs. Anna A. mentioned the noise by other patients.

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.

Johanna J.

Mrs. Johanna J. remembers through a diary.

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Johanna J.

Johanna J.