Family members' satisfaction with critical care: a pilot study

Abstract

the results highlight the family members' need for regular information and the need to improve the environment in the waiting rooms for family members. The ICU staff's competence and their way of encountering the ill person and their family seem to be important for family members' satisfaction with the care.

Family Visitation in Greek Intensive Care Units: Nurses’ Perspective

“…The most important needs are summarized into 5 categories: comfort, information, assurance, support, and ability to be near the patient. 8,[15][16][17]29,55,56 In our study, the overall score on the beliefs scale indicates that nurses tend to recognize the emotional benefit of visiting and open visiting for patients and patients' families, a finding also reported by other researchers. 12,22,31,[33][34][35][36][37] Despite these results, the needs of information, reassurance, and closeness, which are highly ranked by patients' relatives, are perceived differently by nurses, causing conflicts in the ICUs.…”

“…10,[20][21][22][23][24][25] Several investigators 8,[10][11][12][13]19,26,27 whose studies focused on the satisfaction of patients and the patients' families have pointed out the importance of meeting the families' needs and incorporating those needs into the nursing care plan. Evidence 5,8,9,12,[14][15][16][17][18][26][27][28][29][30] also suggests that a flexible visiting policy increases the satisfaction of patients and patients' families, reduces their anxiety, and helps them integrate more effectively into the complicated and hostile ICU environment.…”

What are the ethical issues in relation to the role of the family in intensive care?

“…This does require a certain level of organisation and reflection before implementation, as it may call for a change in practices, or even increase the workload for some staff members (42). Although there have been no randomized, controlled trials to date, it would appear that restricting visiting hours gives rise to dissatisfaction among family members, whereas unlimited visiting strengthens the bonds with the caregiving team (43,44).…”

Voices of Family Members and Significant Others in the Tele–Intensive Care Unit

“…6,10,11,13,14 The effect of the tele-ICU intervention on clinical and financial outcomes compared with traditional providers and the significant others of other patients. [26][27][28][29] As technological advances such as the tele-ICU are implemented by health care systems, research will be required to determine the impact of these new technologies and care models on the informational and emotional needs of patients and significant others as well as their perceptions of the impact of the tele-ICU on quality of care. This pilot study was focused on informational needs by conducting a survey of patients' significant others to determine if they were informed about the role of the tele-ICU in the care of their loved ones and to identify significant others' preferences regarding source and type of information about the tele-ICU and assess their perceptions of the impact of the tele-ICU on quality of care.…”

“…18 The needs of patients and their significant others, which includes immediate family members (eg, spouse/partner, siblings, parents), other family members (eg, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins), and other members of patients' social network (eg, friends, neighbors), are well-documented in the traditional ICU setting. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] The significant others of patients in the traditional ICU setting experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression and have explicit needs for support to manage these reactions. 26 shortages of critical care nurses and physicians will exacerbate the problem of providing quality, cost-effective care to critically ill patients.…”