Background Surrogate decision makers for incapacitated, critically ill patients often struggle
with decisions related to goals of care. Such decisions cause psychological distress in …

Background Problems persist with surrogate decision making in intensive care units, leading
to distress for surrogates and treatment that may not reflect patients' values. Objectives To …

Purpose This study aimed to elucidate the impact of protocolized family support intervention
on length of stay (LOS) in the intensive care unit (ICU) through a systematic review and meta …

Rationale: Communication with family of critically ill patients is often poor and associated
with family distress. Objectives: To determine if an intensive care unit (ICU) communication …

There is increasing recognition of the important role of family members in the ICU and there
are four compelling reasons that ICU clinicians should incorporate family members into the …

Although acting as a surrogate decision maker can be highly distressing for some family
members of intensive care unit patients, little is known about whether there are modifiable …

BACKGROUND Although numerous studies have addressed external factors associated
with difficulty in surrogate decision making, intrapersonal sources of tension are an …

Objective: To determine whether patient-and family-centered care interventions in the ICU
improve outcomes. Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL …

Importance Physicians often rely on surrogate decision-makers (SDMs) to make important
decisions on behalf of critically ill patients during times of incapacity. It is uncertain whether …

The intensive care unit (ICU), where death is common and even survivors of an ICU stay
face the risk of long-term morbidity and re-admissions to the ICU, represents an important …