Seeking to humanize intensive care

The scientific and technical evolution of critical patient care has dramatically improved clinical practice and survival, but this progress has not been matched equally in the more human aspects of critical patient care. In many cases, the organizational and architectural characteristics of intensive care units (ICU) make them hostile environments for patients and their families and even for the professionals themselves.(1) In a humanized organization, there is a personal and collective commitment to humanizing the relevant reality, relationships, behaviors, environment, and individuals, especially when the organization is aware of the vulnerability of others and the patient’s need for help. Many strategic lines can be considered in the context of humanizing ICUs, and all of these approaches allow a wide margin for improvement. Seeking excellence requires a change of attitude and a commitment to positioning the person as the central axis of health care. Within the Proyecto HU-CI: Humanizando los Cuidados Intensivos [HU-IC Project: Humanizing Intensive Care], a conceptual framework has been designed with the objective of developing specific actions that contemplate humanization as a transverse dimension of quality. These areas of work cover aspects related to visitation schedules, communication, patient well-being, family participation in care, professional exhaustion syndrome, post-ICU syndrome, humanized architecture and infrastructure, and care at the end of life (Figure 1). All of these areas of focus hold offering excellent intensive care as a common objective, not only from a technical point of view but also from a human point of view, with the professional as the engine of change.