Mastering Intensive Care

A year ago there was no such thing as the Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Now there are 21 separate interviews, each of which have helped me and seem to have helped many of you to make improvements at delivering more compassionate, thoughtful and patient-centred intensive care. Without fail my guests throughout 2017 were excellent and I really enjoyed doing the interviews. And I promise to bring...

A year ago there was no such thing as the Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Now there are 22 episodes with 21 separate interviews, each of which have helped me and seem to have helped many of you to make improvements at delivering more compassionate, thoughtful and patient-centred intensive care. Without fail my guests throughout 2017 were excellent and I really enjoyed doing the interviews. And I...

This week's Mastering Intensive Care podcast features Dr Felicity Hawker who is one of the true female pioneers of Intensive Care in Australia and New Zealand. I had the privilege of working with Felicity for over a decade from when I began as a brand new intensive care consultant over 20 years ago and I came to admire her greatly. Mainly because I witnessed first hand someone who was a master cli...

Are we truly making healthcare safer? Do we adequately understand human factors in how we work in hospitals? How would you respond if your partner died from a "routine operation"?   These are just 3 of the questions you are likely to ponder as you listen to this interview with Martin Bromiley OBE from the United Kingdom on the Mastering Intensive Care podcast. Whilst many people that we care for i...

Do you play the role of the exemplary leader in the ICU? Are you charming, funny, friendly and extroverted – even when these aren't your natural personality characteristics? Do you throw yourself into your series of consecutive days in the ICU like you are going away to adventure camp? Do you outline specific objectives that a patient should meet over a timeframe of a few days to decide whether tr...

Are you receiving elderly intubated patients where someone else says they want "everything" done? Are the doctors who refer patients to intensive care finding out what their patients really want towards the end of life? Does this frustrate you on a daily basis?   This is a huge topic in intensive care. Finding out the wishes of our patients before they end up on a ventilator with no one to speak f...

Are your ICU patients ever in a holding pattern? Do you aim to liberate your patients from ICU as soon as possible? Is your caution about moving things forward harmful to our patients?   I don't think we talk often enough about the dangers of conservatism in intensive care. About how if we are cautious in thinking the patient is not quite ready to be extubated, or have the sedation turned off, or...

Do you say "I don't know" when you really don't have an answer? Might seeking that knowledge help your patients? This is just one component of a wonderful conversation I held with Professor Flavia Machado when I interviewed her at the recent DasSMACC conference in Berlin. Flavia is doing a great job at raising the awareness of sepsis globally but her other great job is in running a large Intensive...

How did you feel the first day you worked in ICU? Was it like walking on the moon? So foreign, because you didn't understand much about the machines, the techniques, or even the words that were being used. That's what it felt like for me, all those years ago. Thanks to one of my consultants who really "held my hand" on that first day, I was OK, but I wish I could have completed a BASIC course like...

Whilst the skills of applying life support and resuscitation take up most of our training, they are relatively easier to master than the skills that allow us to become good at diagnosis, good at communication, and most of all good at being resilient over a whole career so we can satisfactorily work with others and deal with the stress of working in intensive care. Peter Brindley, a Canadian intens...

Do you think your procedural skills are more important than your ability to lead and to mentor? Do you have a department head who talks about your personal wellness with you? How do you maintain and improve your skills in leading a family meeting?   Professor Brian Cuthbertson believes that our non-technical skills, those human factor aspects like leadership, mentoring, communication and leading m...

What sort of things do you tell yourself when you are resuscitating a patient? Are you self-critical about your ability to deal with the situation? Is your inner voice so loud that you can't concentrate on the task? This is a topic we don't speak enough about in intensive care. The inner dialogue, which can often be very negative, is commonly going on in the background as we do our work. And as As...

Is the patient the centre of every action you take in the ICU? Do you exude calm and enthusiastic energy and greet other team members warmly and genuinely? Do you seek pleasure in seeing colleagues grow to become more skilled than you are? These are 3 questions you might ask yourself after you listen to this episode with Professor Julia Wendon, a well respected intensivist from the United Kingdom....

Do you give feedback to your intensive care colleagues when they do their job well? Have you become overscheduled because you have trouble saying no to new tasks? How well do you listen to the views of the intensive care nurses in your ICU?   The first international guest of the podcast series, Dr Colin McArthur, is a highly experienced intensivist, anaesthetist, researcher, administrator and lead...

Do you seek the relative at the bedside's help by asking them their opinion on whether their loved one is getting better or not? Do you even have families at the bedside on your ward round? Do you listen as much as you can in your end of life discussions? Professor Imogen Mitchell, a senior intensivist and Dean of Medicine from Canberra, Australia, sees talking to our patient's families as one of...

How important is the main daily ward round we do each day in the Intensive Care Unit? Is the ward round in your ICU focused and concise? Do you adequately communicate the plans you generate on the ward round to the whole ICU team? John Myburgh, AO, an experienced Australian intensivist, who began his life and career in South Africa, is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at St George Clinical Sch...

Assoc Prof Dianne Stephens tells the story of how she moved to Darwin, a remote part of Australia, immediately after completing her intensive care training, as a solo intensivist and Director of the Intensive Care Unit. And by working hard, respecting and valuing everyone in the team and by communicating well, she led the development of a positive and happiness–focused work environment where great...

Assoc Prof Charlie Corke from Geelong, Australia outlines the importance of optimal communication in helping us arrive at the best decisions for our patients. Charlie is one of Australia's leading intensivists and has been teaching communication and high quality end of life decision-making since before it was even fashionable. Charlie reflects on how we can communicate effectively, telling us that...

In this episode Assoc Prof Craig French from Western Health (where he is Director of Intensive Care) and Melbourne University in Melbourne, Australia reflects thoughtfully about many aspects of clinical care including how inspiring a healthy workplace culture can lead to staff enjoyment as well as improved patient outcomes. Craig discusses topics such as: how in intensive care we have become more...

In this episode Prof Jamie Cooper from the Alfred Hospital and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia describes how purposeful management of our own careers is vital for longevity in the field, how research has helped him be a better clinician and some of the habits he thinks are important to having a good life at work and at home. Jamie discusses topics such as: why he the immediacy in ICU mad...

In this episode Assoc Prof Neil Orford from University Hospital Geelong in Geelong, Australia describes how he has had to learn key leadership skills, how he values and now teaches communication skills, how he works on his overall life balance and how he has developed an interest in writing. Neil discusses topics such as: how he ended up studying medicine after considering being a vet and a mathem...

In this episode Prof Rinaldo Bellomo from the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia describes how he has always had an enquiring mind and how he judges himself with respect to his ability to be caring, compassionate, competent, communicative and collegial, both professionally and personally. He discusses topics such as: how an experience as a 5th medical student sparked his interest in intensive...

In this podcast Prof John Botha from Frankston Hospital in Melbourne, Australia discusses several aspects of exemplary leadership in the ICU. He talks about why he was attracted to ICU; some of his early mentoring; how to learn from even difficult mentors; how an exceptional ICU environment requires trust, a sense of humour and respect for difference in opinion; the importance of encouraging silen...

This podcast was created to help and inspire intensive care clinicians to improve the care we give to our patients by providing interesting and thought-provoking conversations with highly respected and experienced clinicians. In each of the following episodes, Andrew Davies, an intensivist in Melbourne, Australia, will speak with a guest for the purpose of hearing their perspectives on the habits...