Responding to Uncertainty in the Intensive Care and How They Got That Way

The long day of caring for the ICU patients and their families has ended. Along with the

satisfaction from progress in some patients, sadness at the loss of some patients, frustration

with documentation requirements, and muscular aches from standing for untold hours

comes a profound sense of exhaustion. Did this exhaustion arise simply from the long

hours? Is another source the culprit? Perhaps the endless battle with uncertainty is the

reason. The care of patients in the ICU requires decisions to be made, often with

urgency and with far reaching consequences, with, at best, incomplete information. The

burden is daunting, and the toll may be severe.