Evaluation and Recommendations from a Study of a Critical-Care Waiting Room

Abstract

The intensive care unit (ICU) waiting room is a dynamic place that influences the satisfaction of families of critically ill patients. Waiting-room comfort and amenities are important, because families often spend a great deal of nonvisiting time there. A quality improvement evaluation of the ICU waiting room at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, PA, was conducted. Methods included distribution of an 18-item family survey, ethnographic observations, interviews, and assessment of the physical environment. Findings suggest that the role of the receptionist and access to food and other services were important to families and influenced their assessment of the quality of services provided by the ICU.

Family members' satisfaction with critical care: a pilot study

“…The results of this study show that comfort was the group of needs that family members were least satisfied with. The standard and comfort of the relatives' room is important because the family members spend a great deal of the waiting time there (Deitrick et al , 2005). The relatives' room in many ICUs needs to be improved.…”

Waiting rooms and facilities available to patients' families and visitors in Italian pediatric ICUs: a national survey

“…Comfort is one of five domains (in addition to reassurance, proximity, information and support) associated with the needs of families who have critically ill loved ones [1,2]. Our survey could contribute to promoting more attentive and supportive care for the patient's family [3]. …”

The perspective of families of the critically ill patient: their needs

“…It seems intuitive that attention to details that may help relieve some of the stress that these families experience would be an important consideration. Surprisingly, little focus is given to the comfort and amenities provided in the waiting room despite the fact that most families correlate the overall dé cor of waiting rooms with quality of care [42 ]. Furthermore, families of ICU patients have specifically highlighted their disappointment with the ICU waiting room [26].…”

“…Dietrick and coworkers [42 ] developed recommendations on ways to upgrade the ICU waiting room based on families' wishes and comments on how to improve the environment. Worth noting is the families' consistent desire to have better access to food and drink; a variety of comfortable seating to account for different shapes and sizes (i.e., sofas and recliners); television or reading material including children's books; computer access and a private area within the waiting room.…”