In this presentation, Neil A. Halpern, MD, FCCM, Chief, Critical Care Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, describes how his unit developed a calming, healthy, safe, and healing ICU environment by ensuring shared decision making and frequent communications with patients and families through their ICU stay to end of life. He will discuss innovative programs linked to direct patient care, such as “Smart” alarm management, sniffing software for possible patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia, early mobility for ventilated patients, and integrative medicine consultation for bedside massage, music therapy and meditation.

Dr. Halpern also reviewed the extensive accommodations made for patients and families, as well as how their program contemplates their entire ICU experience. Some unique features include large video displays with magnificent scenic views to provide oases of serenity to soothe patients, family members and visitors, volunteer greeters in the waiting room to help orient families and visitors to the ICU, food and coffee service, weekly multidisciplinary rounds and end-of-week conferences to discuss all patients focusing on the full spectrum of patient and family issues, communication skills training for ICU attendings, fellows, nurse practitioners, and physicians assistants through the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, child visits, and the use of a waiting room survey to assess how the environment helps patients, family members and visitors cope with a difficult situation.

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