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Relatives’ experiences of critical care
Author(s) -
Hughes Felicity,
Bryan Karen,
Robbins Ian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
nursing in critical care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.689
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1478-5153
pISSN - 1362-1017
DOI - 10.1111/j.1362-1017.2005.00091.x
Subject(s) - stressor , exploratory research , perspective (graphical) , nursing , qualitative research , grounded theory , critical incident technique , psychology , intensive care unit , medicine , family member , family medicine , clinical psychology , psychiatry , sociology , social science , marketing , artificial intelligence , anthropology , computer science , business
Summary • This exploratory study investigates relatives’ overall experiences of the critical care environment and how staff perceived these experiences • Traditionally, research in Critical Care concentrated on patients’ psychological well‐being or relatives’ immediate needs. There is little research that addresses the relative's overall experience of events • Critical Care Units are possibly the most daunting units in hospitals. Having a family member admitted to a Critical Care Unit could qualify as a traumatic‐enough stressor to induce post‐traumatic stress symptoms in relatives • A convenience sample of eight relatives and five staff participated in the study. The study used qualitative methods and drew on techniques of grounded theory • While staff perceived relatives’ experiences accurately; issues arose, from both staff and relatives perspective, with regard to accurate dissemination of information • Further research into the communication processes used within Critical Care Units is required in addition to developing best practice in this area