Notes on recoveryLess sedation combined with other measures also shortens hospital stays and improves survival, research shows.
Among those measures: halting intravenous drugs for portions of each day to see if they are still needed, attempting daily to remove patients from ventilators and keeping patients moving.
Contact with family also plays a significant role in recovery, research shows.Christopher Thomas, a physician and assistant professor of clinical medicine and pulmonary and critical care with Louisiana State University Health, used heavy sedation on patients for a few weeks in the spring.
It wasn’t his normal practice. “It felt like you were watching—being forced to watch—patients not get better," Dr. Thomas said.