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Conflicts of values in Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

The specific conditions under which intensive care medicine is practiced may lead, among healthcare professionals, to an actual or perceived deterioration in quality of work life (QWL), manifesting as a loss of meaning in care delivery and the emergence of value-based conflicts. It therefore appears essential to foster a culture of service and an ethical climate within intensive care units, grounded in a clearly defined set of shared values identified by professionals as a guiding framework ensuring the quality and safety of care.

This approach requires the implementation of an anticipated, participatory, and interdisciplinary dynamic involving patients, healthcare professionals, relatives, referring physicians, and consultants. Such a framework aims to facilitate clinical decision-making, promote professional empowerment, and support care practices and organizational structures, while ensuring mutual respect for the voices and positions of all stakeholders. By improving communication and the dissemination of clear, appropriate, and comprehensible information, this approach seeks to prevent the development of ethical silence and mitigate ethical relativism, thereby strengthening team cohesion and engagement within intensive care units. Ultimately, it allows for the recognition and integration of ethical values throughout the entire patient care pathway in the intensive care setting.