Laura Istanboulian, PhD

Episode Date: Wednesday May 21, 2025

How do you effectively communicate with people who require prolonged mechanical ventilation and thus cannot vocalize? How can we better connect with people who cannot speak for themselves? What assumptions do we have that need to be challenged? What practical tips and tools could improve and humanize communication and therefore patient safety – for you, the nurse and for patients and their families?

In this episode we hear how curiosity about these questions and others compelled Dr. Laura Istanboulian to explore interventions to support adult patient communication in the intensive care unit during and beyond. She eloquently describes patient, family and nursing perspectives that can deepen our understanding and praxis in important ways.

Dr. Laura Istanboulian is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Canada. She is also a Nurse Practitioner and Clinician Scientist in the Provincial Prolonged-Ventilation Weaning Centre of Excellence. Her program of research now focuses on promoting safe and equitable care for adults experiencing persistent critical illness and across the critical care continuum. Recently, she completed a study characterizing communication vulnerability in the ICU. This research will be used to describe and quantify the safety impact of communication vulnerability for patients in critical care settings.

Resources:

#IamMGHresearch – Meet Dr. Laura Istanboulian

Communication with the critically ill patient: A nexus between patient needs, communication partner skills and the ICU environment