Diaries Written for ICU Patients

Abstract

Diaries are written for critically ill patients, to help them understand their intensive care stay and come to terms with their illness. The aim of this content analysis of eight such diaries is to understand the potential benefits for patients and families of this care intervention. A main category emerged: Sharing throughout the ICU time. Four themes were identified: (a) Sharing the story, (b) Sharing the presence, (c) Sharing feelings, and (d) Sharing through support. The first theme reflects the narration of daily events. The second is the perceived presence of health professionals and family at the patient's bedside and the presence of the patient as a person through the diary entries. The third theme describes the expression of feelings as written throughout the text. The last theme refers to the support offered to the patient. The diaries reflect the commitment and care of contributors to the patients' welfare.

Skriver dagbok til respirator=pasienter

“…Engasjementet hos sykepleiere som skriver dagbok, er forankret i positive tilbakemeldinger fra takknemlige pasienter og pårørende (3, [13][14][15]. Sykepleiere som skriver dagbok, kan få innsikt i pasientenes opplevelse av intensivbehandlingen, noe som kan bidra til å videreutvikle sykepleien til pasientgruppen (9).…”

“…Denne tilnaermingen kan bidra til at pasienten får bedre forståelse for sitt sykdomsforløp på intensivavdelingen. I dagboken beskrives daglige hendelser, miljøet rundt pasientsengen, pasientbehandling, tanker og følelser relatert til situasjonen samt sykepleietiltak (9). Fra 2011 er dagbok anbefalt å vaere en del av norske pasienters journal (10).…”

Intensive care diaries to promote recovery for patients and families after critical illness: A Cochrane Systematic Review

“…Some ICUs encourage the participation of the patient's family, reporting the diaries as a potential focus for family empowerment and family-centred care [22,23]. Current practice surrounding the provision of patient diaries to the patients is variable.…”

“…Current practice surrounding the provision of patient diaries to the patients is variable. ICUs differ between putting the diaries on the end of the bed when transferring a patient out of ICU to delivering a coordinated system of follow-up and support for the patients and their families [20,21,23].…”

“…Patients' perceptions of intensive care are variable, often with very little or indeed nothing at all being remembered [14].For many patients their memories are unpleasant, fragmentary or frightening in nature [23]. The aim of patient diaries is to provide ICU survivors with an accurate and informative collection of events, improving the memory recall of factual information.…”