The ICU Guide for Families: Understanding Intensive Care and How You Can Support Your Loved One

This book is not only for the grieving families of the patients, but also for the medical community. It helps to enlighten the ICU patient's family members, writing with striking clarity, compassion, honesty and insight. It can be read cover to cover or by topic, chronologically. Dr. Goitein has presented herself as an experienced and thoughtful ICU physician, as well as being a supportive loving member of the patient's family. I felt she was at the bedside and at my side, guiding me through a time of great vulnerability. Her presence and wisdom spoke to me throughout the the book. Michael Palestine, MD

Dr. Goitein has taken her years of direct patient care experience and written a brilliant guide to navigating the ICU. As anyone who has had a loved one requiring this level of care can attest, the experience is often confusing and overwhelming. This invaluable book explains, in easy to understand language, the who, what, why and when of ICU care. By reading this book before the emergency strikes, you will be better able to support and advocate for your loved one in their time of need. As a clinical social worker, I am now recommending this book to all of my clients. We can't all be fortunate enough to receive care from a physician as dedicated, intelligent and compassionate as Dr. Goitein, but thanks to this book we can all benefit from her wisdom and experience.

This book is written clearly and compassionately. I think it is hard to be rational when you are caring for someone on the edge of life or death. Dr. Goitein gives you the information that you need so you feel you have some sense of agency for your loved one. The ICU is a foreign place for most of us and it is so hard for the professionals who work there to stop and give us all the guidance that we need. This book is a guide from an experienced professional when we need insight on our choices. Don't hesitate to buy it for yourself or someone you know who is going through a loved one's ICU time.

Dr. Lara Goitin writes from her twelve year experience as an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) physician, but most importantly from her deep concern for the families of those who have had to maneuver through the complex intricacies of hospital protocol.She has written this book in language that is accessible to the average person. Giving us, the reader, the necessary vocabulary that will help when speaking to care givers, physicians, hospital staff. Also, a step by step map of what to expect if our family member spends time in ICU.This is an Invaluable guide. Hopefully you may never need it, but if you do you will be grateful that you have 'The ICU Guide for Families' in you home library.Donald and Barbara Burnett

This is an ICU doctor's guide to what patients and families may encounter during a stay in an ICU. It describes realistic scenarios to help the patient/family interpret what's going on and, when necessary, make decisions about the choices they may have to make. It tells you how to get additional information (and from whom) at the hospital, how to assess the treatments being given, and what the typical outcomes are for different treatments. It would be a valuable resource to have with you at the hospital. It's understandable to the layperson, helps you decode the medical terminology you might hear, and, most of all, gives you honest information to help inform serious decisions you may have to make for yourself or, more likely, someone else.