NCCEd: Neurocritical Care Education for Residents

Objective: Develop a structure for, and independently run, family meetings

Rationale: Neurologists are often called to help with family meetings, whether as primary providers or consultants. Family meetings are an opportunity to ensure continued collaboration between medical staff and families, and having a well-defined structure, with opening with the latter’s understanding of the situation and a headline statement, is essential for clear and efficient communication.

Objective: Share prognostic information, including conveying prognostic uncertainty, in family meetings

Objective: Support family and team members in navigating decision-making in the face of uncertainty

Rationale: The nature of many neurologic illnesses mandates that a key skill neurologists must have is that of articulating prognostic uncertainty and helping guide others in decision-making in the face of this uncertainty. This is a key feature that differentiates family meetings in the neurocritically ill population from typical palliative care practice.

Objective: Identify the components of NURSE statements for responding to emotion and articulating empathy

Rationale: NURSE, which stands for Naming, Understanding, Respective, Supporting, and Exploring, is a communication tool used to respond to emotion that will surface in communication with families, whether informal at the bedside or formal in structured family meetings.

Objective: Discuss the ethical considerations surrounding brain death

Rationale: Brain death is often misunderstood. As the subject matter experts, neurologists must be able to explain the ethical considerations when managing patients and communicating with other teams and the patients’ loved ones.