Navigating the toughest questions at the bedside

Each month, ESICM’s Topic of the Month brings together curated scientific content, expert interviews, and key resources from across our 15 specialist sections, helping you explore key themes in depth and stay at the forefront of ICU practice.

Because in a field that evolves as rapidly as ours, continuous learning is the foundation of better care for our patients.

This month, we spotlight the Ethics Section, dedicated to supporting intensive care professionals across Europe in addressing the ethical challenges that arise at the bedside — fostering the well-being of patients, their families, and healthcare workers alike.

Through educational activities and ethics-focused research, the section works to ensure that ethical reflection remains at the heart of clinical decision-making in intensive care. From end-of-life conversations and shared decision-making to moral distress, staff wellbeing, and the ethical implications of emerging technologies, the Ethics Section addresses some of the most complex and human dimensions of our speciality.

Because intensive care is not only about what we can do — it is about what we should do, and how we support the people involved at every stage of the journey.

This month, we invite you to explore our featured scientific interview and curated resources, and to reflect on how ethical considerations shape your daily clinical decisions — at the bedside and beyond.

RESOURCES: 

 Webinars & Podcasts
🔹Human factors in critical care
🔹Caring for a potential organ donor in ICU
🔹ESICM guidelines on end of life and palliative care in the intensive care unit
🔹End of Life Care concepts in intensive care

LIVE Top Talks
🔹A step-escalation approach in family conflict
🔹Fearless in ICU: Effective communication in the ICU hierarchy

ICM Articles
🔹Antibiotics must be part of end-of-life decisions: a necessary evil?
🔹Understanding the neuroscience of communicating serious news
🔹Family support in intensive care: beyond no effect trials and the hidden challenges of cluster randomization

SCIENTIFIC INTERVIEW:

In this month’s scientific interview, Victoria Metaxa (London, UK), reflects on the mental health challenges facing ICU professionals and shares her perspective on what needs to change. She discusses the importance of balance and self-care, but goes further — challenging the idea that burnout is an individual failure, and arguing that the system itself must take responsibility for supporting its people. She highlights the power of relationships in the workplace and calls for ICU environments that listen, support, and create space for open dialogue — because protecting the mental health of those who care for the most critically ill is not optional; it is essential.