Abstract
Abstract The objective of this research is to investigate family members’ perceptions as to the end-of-life decision-making process in an ICU. The authors conducted a qualitative descriptive study in which they interviewed six family members of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU of a private hospital. Five categories of analysis emerged from the examination of the material. This study will discuss two of those categories: the decision-making process and the relationship with the medical staff. The results indicate that family members were satisfied with communication with the medical staff, an important aspect for the decision-making process. Within this context, the shared model, prioritization of palliative care and identification of futile treatments prevailed, aimed at ensuring the patient’s comfort and dignity at the end of life. The results also reveal the need for integration of palliative care in ICUs, particularly in end-of-life situations.
Highlights
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a highly complex sector of the hospital, intended for patients in a grave or high-risk clinical situation
Especially physicians, must make precise, appropriate decisions in a timely manner, generally in situations involving a high level of stress and uncertainty (Lighthall & Vazquez-Guillamet, 2015)
The decision-making procedure extends across extremely intricate fields, capable of being investigated at different levels of complexity, from neurobiology to the applied social sciences (Siqueira-Batista et al, 2014)
Summary
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a highly complex sector of the hospital, intended for patients in a grave or high-risk clinical situation. Especially physicians, must make precise, appropriate decisions in a timely manner, generally in situations involving a high level of stress and uncertainty (Lighthall & Vazquez-Guillamet, 2015). An. Disponível em www.scielo.br essential process of human nature, decision-making is the process of analyzing the various alternatives available and choosing the course of action a person should take. Decision making at the end of life as the process of choosing between patient-care alternatives, encompassing both diagnostic reasoning and clinical judgment (Stinson, 2016)
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