Caregiver needs in and after the ICU: A call to action for critical care nurses

Despite increasing illness severity and patient complexity, intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality continue to decline (Prescott et al., 2024). At the same time, the long-term physical, cognitive, and mental health challenges experienced by ICU survivors are becoming better understood and more frequently recognized as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS; Needham et al., 2012; Schwitzer et al., 2023). In contrast, the experiences and needs of family members, who often transition into unpaid caregiving roles after discharge, remain underrecognized in the ICU setting. These family caregivers frequently experience post-intensive care syndrome–family (PICS-F), a cluster of emotional, psychological, physical, and social symptoms that can impair their health and caregiving capacity (Davidson et al., 2012).