ICU Diary Access

[mylko]

hello all;

i’ve been told & read that throughout a patient’s stay in ICU, a ‘diary’ is kept by the staff. this consists of daily entries by the staff listing what happened on that day, how you present, any procedures / decisions...i was wondering if anyone has had access to their diary and how i would be able to gain access to mine?

i’m eastern UK based, now been awake 4 weeks and home for 1 week.

thank you, sending positive wishes to you all ✨

[Sepsur]

I don’t think they were able to keep diaries during Covid pandemic because of cross contamination- @rhyl1 might be able to shed more light.

[Sepsur]

@Rhyl1

[Rhyl1 Partner Moderator ICUsteps in reply to Sepsur]

Hi only some ICUs write diaries for their patients and some of those stopped during COVID-19 because of the risks of cross infection. Normally the ICU follow up team would make sure the diary was given to you but these teams had to help in ICU. All I can suggest is phoning the ICU to see if they were writing diaries while you were there.

[Stayloose]

My husband had a diary given to him (pre Covid). It said very little. Only comments were 'tried hard to breathe without ventilator but not yet ready', 'managing with nasal oxygen now'. Quiet night etc. Further down the line you may be able to contact ICU nurses re what did or might have gone on. I can see it's really hard to grapple with unless relatives have been well informed and written down updates. I wish you well in your ongoing recovery.

[Mccarthy0702]

The nurse who told me that my dad has a diary and will get it to bring home when he leaves ICU . Maybe just ring up and ask xx