Ayonija Maheshwari is an anesthesiologist and critical care physician who has practiced in the United States and New Zealand. She writes about patient safety, caregiving, and the human side of medicine, drawing on a double vantage point: years at the head of the bed, and her mother's seventy-one days in the ICU after a heart transplant, lived from the chair beside it.
She is writing a book, Have You Seen Your Mother's Chest X-Ray?, and shares her work on Substack and LinkedIn.
Every single night in the ICU, I am shocked by the number of people who have never discussed with their family what they would want done if their heart stops beating. Whether they would want to be shocked out of a bad rhythm. Whether they would want CPR, chest compressions, bones broken in the process. What they would want if a catastrophic illness were going to take their life, or …
Why end-of-life conversations can’t wait for the ICU
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