Explain and join in writing: Post-ICU for healthcare staff.
“Life before and after ICU”. This is something you frequently hear former ICU patients saying. The symptoms caused by admission to the ICU can surface as physical problems, but also affect feelings, thoughts and memories. The Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) is the name used for these symptoms. Keeping a digital journal during the stay helps to reduce these symptoms when the patient returns home. We describe below how the Post-ICU journal works.
Learn more about PICS.You take care of an ICU patient for weeks, and that person sleeps during the whole time. It feels good to be able to be visible to them after the time in ICU
Find out all about Post-ICU in 3 steps.
Try the demo
On this page you will find additional information to help give healthcare staff a clear picture of what the journal is. You can also run through the demo to familiarize yourself with it. This then helps you to explain to other people how it works exactly, and makes it easier to explain it clearly to patients and family members. Tell them to look at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s information about PICS for any questions about PICS that you are unable to answer.
Try the demoInform the patient
During the ICU admission you hand the envelope with the instruction booklet, the consent form and the personal journal code to the patient or their advocate. They can use the journal code to set up the journal and invite family members and healthcare staff to join in and help write it. If all these people join in and keep writing, then the picture of the time in ICU is more complete. Your contribution to the journal is of huge value, it is after all you and your colleagues who are at their bedside day and night.
Writing in a number of journals
The patient or advocate needs to share the journal code before you can start writing in the journal. You may be writing in a number of journals, and it is simple to switch between them. The information that you write should not really be medical information, but more about general developments. Are they getting better or a bit worse? Did any visitors come by today? What are all the pieces of equipment in the room doing for them?
An entry from the ICU. Contribute as a healthcare professional.
As a healthcare worker you follow the developments of your patient very closely. This means that your contributions to their journals is extremely valuable during the recovery process that follows.
What do I do with the signed consent forms that I get?
Each hospital has its own process and contact person. We recommend asking the hospital secretariat to scan this form and add it to the EHR. Agree internally which team is in the best position to explain the concept to the patient or their advocate and to ask them to sign the consent form.
I forgot my password, now what do I do?
You can request a new password on the login page of the journal. When it asks you to enter your password, click on the link “Forgot password”. You will then be sent an email with instructions on how to reset your password.
How can I open a different patient’s journal?
Whenever you are writing or reading a message you will see an option to close the journal. At any time you can also click on the information button to close the journal. You will then see a list of the journals for other patients.
Will the diary stop when the patient is moved to a different ward?
The patient is the owner of the journal, so they take the journal home with them. Or to another ward, or the rehabilitation center and at the end of the day, then take it home.
Can I read the messages from the patient’s family members and friends?
If the patient sets this in the diary, then healthcare staff can also read the messages left by other contributors. If the patient did not set this, then the patient advocate is the only one who can define whether his/her own messages can be read by the healthcare staff. So it depends on the preferences they chose.
What if I write a message in the wrong journal and want to delete it?
Send an email to help@post-ic.nl saying that you want to have the message in the relevant journal removed. We will remove the message for you as soon as possible.