Category: Walking Home From The ICU Podcast

Episode 157: Sedation is Sleep-Deprivation

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 157: Sedation is Sleep-Deprivation

For decades, we have culturally passed on the myth that patients are sleeping while sedated into medically induced comas. We have assured ourselves and each other that sedation “prevents PTSD”. Research has proven that sedation makes true restorative sleep impossible and real recall of the reality of the ICU is protective against post-ICU PTSD. So

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 157: Sedation is Sleep-Deprivation

Episode 156- Nurses Are Willing, but Unsupported and Untrained in Practicing the ABCDEF Bundle

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 156: Nurses Are Willing, but Unsupported and Untrained in Practicing the ABCDEF Bundle

After decades of research and effort, why is there a persistent struggle to truly practice the ABCDEF bundle? Are antiquated sedation practices because nurses are unwilling to change, or is it because they are unsupported and untrained in the risks and realities of sedation? Even when training is provided in the classroom, what do nurses

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 156: Nurses Are Willing, but Unsupported and Untrained in Practicing the ABCDEF Bundle

Episode 155- F- Family Engagement and Empowerment with Lito Rama

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 155: F- Family Engagement and Empowerment with Lito Rama

How do families impact patient outcomes in the ICU? What does it really mean to engage and empower families in the ICU? Have our teams truly recovered from the strict visitation restrictions from COVID? How does an ABCDEF Bundle culture influence our visitation policies? Lito Rama, RN, MBA joins us now to share with us

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 155: F- Family Engagement and Empowerment with Lito Rama

Episode 153 D Assess, Prevent, and Treat Delirium with Dr. Adrian Austin

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 153: D- Assess, Prevent, and Treat Delirium with Dr. Adrian Austin

The normality of delirium in the ICU is often mistaken for benign. What does it really mean to “assess, prevent, and treat delirium”? Are we treating a positive CAM score with the same urgency as a positive tropinin? If we are automatically starting deliriogenic medications on every patient immediately upon intubation, are we truly practicing

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 153: D- Assess, Prevent, and Treat Delirium with Dr. Adrian Austin

Episode 152 C- Choice of Sedation and Analgesia with John Devlin, PharmD

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 152: C- Choice of Sedation and Analgesia with John Devlin, PharmD

Is the C of the ABCDEF bundle only for avoiding benzodiazepines? How do we fully practice the “C” of the bundle and how does this impact patient care and outcomes? If we are automatically starting sedation without evaluation, are we truly practicing the ABCDEF bundle? John W. Devlin, PharmD, BCCCP, MCCM, FCCP joins us in

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 152: C- Choice of Sedation and Analgesia with John Devlin, PharmD

Episode 150: Awakening Trials- "Rehumanization of the Patient"- With Dr. Wes Ely

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 150: Awakening Trials- “Rehumanization of the Patient”- With Dr. Wes Ely

What is the purpose of awakening “trials”? When should awakening “trials” be done? How can we have successful awakening “trials”? Dr. Wes Ely joins us in this episode to crack the code on sedation cessation.   Episode Transcription Kali Dayton: Last week, I did a little survey on social media. I recognize that my followers

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 150: Awakening Trials- “Rehumanization of the Patient”- With Dr. Wes Ely

Episode 149: A- Assess, Prevent, and Treat Pain with Joanna Stollings, PharmD

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 149: A- Assess, Prevent, and Treat Pain with Joanna Stollings, PharmD

The A of the ABCDEF Bundle is for “Assess, Prevent, and Treat Pain”. How do we truly master this tool and how does this impact patient outcomes? Can we assess, prevent, and treat pain while simultaneously striving to have all possible patients awake, autonomous, and even mobile? Joanna Stollings, PharmD, shares what the A of

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 149: A- Assess, Prevent, and Treat Pain with Joanna Stollings, PharmD

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 147: The Big Picture of Hospital-Aquired Pressure Injuries with Wound Care Karen

Walking Home From The ICU Episode 147: The Big Picture of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries with Wound Care Karen

How do hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) occur in the ICU and why is the ABCDEF bundle such a powerful tool to prevent HAPIs? How do HAPIs impact healthcare costs, staff workload, patient quality of life, and overall survival? Wound Care Karen joins us in this episode to explore the crisis of hospital-acquired pressure injuries in

Learn More > from Walking Home From The ICU Episode 147: The Big Picture of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries with Wound Care Karen

Over the last few years I have become aware of the PICS (post-intensive care syndrome) condition and the very serious negative impact that it has on our ICU survivors. I have become much more aware of the potential negative impact of anxiety, depression, PTSD and cognitive dysfunction. Many patients whom we consider saves in the sense they leave the ICU alive have many issues that most people would consider far from a successful experience. Their lives are often dramatically changed in a very negative fashion.

I am a professor of medicine and have been an ICU director for over forty years. What I find very disturbing in my own experience and that of many other intensivists is that this outcome is generally considered acceptable; the patient survived and will get better with time. We have little access to these patients and almost zero information about their condition unless they are unfortunate enough to return to our ICUs. Very few of us have a PICS clinic where we would have a chance to better understand the challenges that some of our patients encounter, and there are very few systems in place to provide feedback to us as ICU clinicians. Therefore, we are blissfully ignorant of the many challenges that a substantial number of our survivors encounter. This is a major problem. The vast majority of ICU survivors and their families will experience cognitive, emotional and physical symptoms which often have devastating impacts on their lives. At this time, with PICS clinics being a rarity, there is no reasonable mechanism for intensivists to have a solid perspective on the frequency and severity of this condition.

How patients and their families are treated in the ICU often has a major impact on how the patient and families survive post discharge. It is generally agreed that most sedation infusions, particularly benzodiazepines, frequently have higher incidences of delirium and post-discharge dysfunction. There are a few hospitals in this country where sedative infusions are rarely used and the incidence of the complications described above are dramatically decreased. I have visited one of these hospitals and was amazed to see how effectively patients on maximum ventilator support can be managed, even walking without sedative infusions. In an effort to explore this treatment option in greater detail I have identified Kali Dayton. She is a nurse practitioner who has practiced in this Awake and Walking ICU™ for many years and is an amazing source of information on this topic. After extensive discussion with many colleagues, administration and many others, and reviewing the major potential benefits of the program for our patients, we have decided to introduce this program into our hospital.

Peter J. Murphy, MD, FCCP, MRCPI, BSc

READ MORE TESTIMONIALS >

DOWNLOAD THIS VALUABLE FREE REPORT

Perception Versus Reality: Debunking The Myths About Medically-Induced Comas

By clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to this site's Privacy Policy. Your information is always kept safe.

Dayton ICU Consulting
Creating Awake and Walking ICUs™
Email: info@daytonicuconsulting.com

© Copyright 2026 Dayton ICU Consulting | Privacy Policy | Website by: eVisionMedia.ca
The information associated with Dayton ICU Consulting across all media platforms is for informational/ educational purposes only. It is not meant to replace professional medical judgment and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship between you and the authors. Information contained herein may be accidentally inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, and users are to use caution, seek medical advice from a licensed physician, and consult available resources prior to any medical decision making. The contributors for Dayton ICU Consulting, LLC are not affiliated with, nor do they speak on behalf of any medical institutions, educational facilities, or other healthcare programs.
The ABCDEF Bundle is the Society of Critical Care Medicine property. © 2025. All rights reserved.