Long-term consequences of critical illness: a new opportunity for high-impact critical care nurses.

摘要

In the past decade, we have learned some disconcerting information about the long-term consequences that patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and their families suffer. Each year in the United States, we discharge millions of critically ill patients back into the community. Although we have always assumed that an ICU stay takes a toll and that recovery may take a while, we now know how common, devastating, and prolonged the potential long-term consequences of critical illness can be. Critical care researchers and practitioners are currently working to identify ways to reduce the incidence of long-term consequences of critical illness.