Ethical considerations in evaluating discharge readiness from the intensive care unit

Evaluating readiness for discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) is a critical aspect of patient care. Whereas evidence-based criteria for ICU admission have been established, practical criteria for discharge from the ICU are lacking. Often discharge guidelines simply state that a patient no longer meets ICU admission criteria. Such discharge criteria can be interpreted differently by different healthcare providers, leaving a clinical void where misunderstandings of patients' readiness can conflict with perceptions of what readiness means for patients, families, and healthcare providers. In considering ICU discharge readiness, the use and application of ethical principles may be helpful in mitigating such conflicts and achieving desired patient outcomes. Ethical principles propose different ways of understanding what readiness might mean and how clinicians might weigh these principles in their decision-making process. This article examines the concept of discharge readiness through the lens of the most widely cited ethical principles (autonomy [respect for persons], nonmaleficence/beneficence, and justice) and provides a discussion of their application in the critical care environment. Ongoing bioethics discourse and empirical research are needed to identify factors that help determine discharge readiness within critical care environments that will ultimately promote safe and effective ICU discharges for patients and their families.