Practice Recommendations for End-of-Life Care in the Intensive Care Unit

TOPIC: A substantial number of patients die in the intensive care unit, so high-quality end-of-life care is an important part of intensive care unit work. However, end-of-life care varies because of lack of knowledge of best practices. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Research shows that high-quality end-of-life care is possible in an intensive care unit. This article encourages nurses to be imaginative and take an individual approach to provide the best possible end-of-life care for patients and their family members. PURPOSE OF PAPER: To provide recommendations for high-quality end-of-life care for patients and family members. CONTENT COVERED: This article touches on the following domains: end-of-life decision-making, place to die, patient comfort, family presence in the intensive care unit, visiting children, family needs, preparing the family, staff presence, when the patient dies, after-death care of the family, and caring for staff.