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Abstract
This study compared needs of family members as perceived by nurses and the family members themselves. The study design was descriptive and utilized quantitative data collection and analysis method. Nurses (n = 62) working in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) and High Dependency Units (HDU) of three tertiary health facilities in Malawi at the time of the study consented to participate in the study. In addition, family members (n = 62) who were looking after a critically sick relative in the ICU and HDU in the same tertiary facilities consented and participated in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire developed from the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory for a period of 7 days. STATA version 10 was used to analyze data. The rank correlation between the mean scores of perceived needs across major need categories of support, comfort, information, proximity and assurance between the nurses and family members was significantly different from zero (r = 0.97, p = 0.005). Nurses and family members, respectively ranked assurance (90% and 92%) as the highest priority need, followed by information (78% and 85%) and comfort (78% and 84%) and then support (70% and 73%) and proximity (66% and 69%). The ranking however between the 2 groups on 16 out of 45 individual needs were significantly different (p
Highlights
Families go through traumatic experiences when a relative is admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Descriptive research involved observing, describing and documenting aspects of family needs [12]. This design was considered appropriate for this study because it aimed at describing the perceptions of nurses and family members themselves regarding the priority needs of the family members during the hospitalization and critical care of their sick relatives
Three nurses (5%) who had earlier consented to participate by self administration of the questionnaire did not return the completed questionnaires while one family member did not consent to participate in the study for no specific reasons
Summary
Families go through traumatic experiences when a relative is admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Family-centred care is a notion which acknowledges that patients are part of a larger “whole”. This belief requires critical care nurses to recognize the importance of including patients’ families in the circle of care [2]. In a study by William [3] to identify the unique contribution that family members make towards patient care and recovery, nurses noted that it was challenging for them to know their patient better because they were either intubated or sedated. Apart from providing information about the patient, family members help to provide emotional support to the patient. Using the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (CCFNI), developed by Molter [4] and revised by Leske [5], studies have confirmed the following need categories: information, assurance, support, closeness or proximity and comfort [6] [7]
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