When you set up an ICU at home, you need to consider an additional entity – the patient’s family. Unlike conventional ICUs at hospitals, you cannot control the presence of family members in their own houses. While you can have protocols about entering the patient’s room, the family members will always be around.

When such circumstances arise, home ICU family training becomes important. Instead of keeping family members completely away from their loved ones, it is better to train them to manage the setup. Training family members for home ICUs is also important to keep the patient safe. Without proper knowledge of home-based ICUs, they can take things casually and hamper the patient’s recovery process.

Here are a few home healthcare training areas that are important in training family members for home ICU care:

Need Assessment

Before anything else, a patient's family members should know to assess the medical needs of their loved ones. Often, the family members approach healthcare professionals to set up an ICU at home. Whether they take the patient to a doctor for a diagnosis or seek home healthcare services, they are responsible for ascertaining the specific needs of the patient before setting up a home ICU.

Need assessment also includes analyzing one’s home before creating a home-based ICU setup. The family members should finalize a room that best works for an ICU. This involves checking power supply, ventilation, space, cleanliness, and everything else that facilitates a complicated setup like an ICU.

Monitoring Basic Medical Needs

While family members cannot do the job of a doctor or a trained caregiver, they can always help them monitor the patient’s basic medical needs. Every family member should at least know the fundamentals of providing medical care to a patient admitted to a home-based ICU. This allows them to make important decisions in the absence of a healthcare professional and report accurate conditions to their doctor on time (if needed).

Doctors and nurses often teach family members how to read a patient’s vitals, such as blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, oxygen levels, etc. They may also teach them the use of equipment like oxygen concentrators, ventilators, feeding tubes, and more. Quick demonstrations can always help people use these tools when push comes to shove.

Family members can also be trained in administering and handling intravenous and oral medications. Medical professionals often make a patient’s family members understand the dosage, time, and precision of medication.

Emergency Training

Medical emergencies are far more serious for patients admitted to ICUs. In the case of home ICUs, family members should know how to act in the case of such emergencies. Doctors and qualified caregivers train family members in identifying warning signs that alter the patient’s condition. These signs often include breathing difficulties, changes in consciousness, chest pain, and more.

If no medical professional is around during the moment of an emergency, the family members should also know basic life-saving techniques like CPR to save their loved one’s life.

Healthcare professionals create a dedicated action plan for tackling emergencies before admitting a patient to a home-based ICU. Their family members are briefed about all relevant procedures, asking them to be prepared for unexpected circumstances.

Offering Personal Care

If needed, the patient’s family members should be trained to provide personal care to their loved ones. Caregivers may ask them to help maintain the patient’s hygiene. This includes giving bed baths, offering oral care, changing dressings, and other procedures to keep the patient clean.

Family members are also taught to change the patient’s position on the ICU bed to prevent bed sores. ICU patients often have limited mobility and it is important to move their bodies a bit to keep them healthy. If the patient receives food from a tube, their family members may be trained to feed their loved ones properly and regularly.

Mental And Emotional Support

It is common for a patient to panic or become too uncomfortable in an ICU. Even when the ICU is at home, they may find themselves getting mentally and emotionally distraught. The only people who can comfort them during such circumstances are their family members.

Doctors and nurses teach a patient’s family member effective ways to communicate with their loved one without disturbing them. Such communication often works effectively if a patient is on a ventilator or in other non-verbal states.

Having said that, the family members themselves need psychological and emotional support to deal with the patient’s state as they recover in home ICU setups.

Controlling Infections

Infection control is one of the most important areas to focus on for home ICU family training. Healthcare experts teach the patient’s family members how to keep the entire house hygienic and free from potential infections. This involves washing hands regularly, wearing gloves while handling equipment, wearing masks while getting close to the patient, using only sterilized items, and more.

Documentation And Reporting

If needed, doctors and their assistants may ask the family members to keep track of the patient’s recovery. They can always help the caregivers in keeping a log of the patient’s health every day. Family members are also informed about the healthcare professionals to contact in case of emergencies.

Being trained in looking after the patient and handling basic home ICU procedures keeps family members occupied and updated about their loved one’s health. This reduces the panic and uncertainties they suffer from at conventional ICUs.

Provide Comprehensive Critical Care To Your Loved One With DocVille’s Home ICU Services

If your family member needs critical care and you want their recovery to be comfortable, DocVille will help you set up an ICU at home. Our home ICU services ensure speedy and holistic recoveries of patients with the help of trained doctors and nurses. With DocVille, you will be trained in navigating basic home ICU procedures, keeping your loved one safe and healthy. We aim to make critical care more accessible, comfortable, and efficient by setting up an ICU in your home.