Structured Family Support Helps Mitigate Grief After a Death in the ICU

When a patient dies in the intensive care unit (ICU), family members are at risk for developing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Creating a supportive environment and communicating clearly with families, particularly at end of life, is essential.

French investigators randomized 34 ICUs to either use a three-step intervention or usual care to communicate with 688 families who were making decisions on withdrawing or withholding treatment. The intervention included education on end-of-life communication (verbal and nonverbal) for all clinicians in the ICU. After the initial meeting with the family about the transition in goals of care, the subsequent steps included supportive check-ins by the physician and nurse d…