DEI LAB Terry Altilio, LCSW APHSW-C, and Anne Kelemen, LICSW APHSW-C During a family meeting in the ICU, a family member asks, “Why do the doctors keep saying we can make him comfortable? He looks comfortable to me.” These are common words that mean one thing to the clinicians but may only add to the confusion of families who see a patient lying still in bed with a breathing tube in their throat, chest moving up and down, and their vital signs all stable. The patient does look comfortable, almost peaceful, as the ventilator keeps their body alive even as the doctors predict that the multiple complications after a cardiac surgery foretell an expected death. Yet, this messaging of “comfortable” may not only cause confusion but also imply that clinicians did not care about comfort before—that it only becomes a priority when someone is dying.
The Words We Choose