Needs of Patients’ Family Members in an Intensive Care Unit With Continuous Visitation

Abstract

Background Although many critical care experts and national organizations support open visitation in intensive care units (ICUs), most ICU visiting policies do not allow unrestricted presence of patients' family members. Objective To describe how well the needs of family members were met in an adult neuroscience ICU with a continuous visitation policy and an adjoining private suite for patients' family members. Methods An exploratory, descriptive study design was used to identify the effects of continuous family visitation in the neuroscience ICU on patients' family members and their needs and experiences during their time in the unit. A convenience sample of consenting family members completed a survey of family need items 72 hours after the patient was admitted to the unit. Results The most important needs identified by the 45 family members surveyed were items relating to information about the patient, visiting the patient, being given hope, talking with a doctor each day, and being assured that the best care is being given to the patient. Least important items were related to physical comforts for the family members. The vast majority of family members rated their needs as being met for all of the items in the survey and reported a high level of satisfaction with care. Conclusion In a neuroscience ICU with an open visitation policy and a private suite for patients' family members, family members rated their needs as being met at a high level, unlike in prior studies in units with limitations on family visitation. The rank order of the importance of each need in the survey was similar to rankings in prior studies in a variety of critical care units. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2016;25:118-125) In descriptive research studies [3][4][5][6][7] in the 1970s and 1980s, family members of ICU adult patients consistently identified similar high-priority needs during the time of the critical illness. Some of the highest ranked needs included the need for information about their loved one, to be geographically close to their loved one, and to know that their loved one is receiving the best care possible. About the AuthorsCynthia Horton, Sharon Rance-Ashley, Tera Field, Robbie Patterson, Claudette Johnson, Holly Saunders, Tracy Shelton, and Jessica Miller are staff nurses, Carmen Frobos is a family coordinator, and Mini Jacob is the nurse educator in the neuroscience intensive care unit,

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Family members’ perceptions of pain behaviors and pain management of adult patients unable to self-report in the intensive care unit: A qualitative descriptive study

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Dying Alone Due to COVID-19: Do the Needs of the Many Outweigh the Rights of the Few—or the One?

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