Resumo

SANTANA CABRERA, L et al. Needs of the family of intensive care patients: perception of the family and the professional. Med. Intensiva [online]. 2007, vol.31, n.6, pp.273-280. ISSN 0210-5691.

Objective. Compare the degree of family satisfaction of patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU) with the perception of the professional on the care setting and information received. Design. Prospective, descriptive study during 3 months. Setting. ICU of the University Hospital Insular of the Canary Islands. Subjects. Family of adult patients admitted to the ICU who were discharged to the ward and the professionals who treated them. Intervention. Personal survey to direct family members of the patients when they are in the ward. The same survey, but modified for the professional, was used on the perception that they believed the family had. Variables of principal interest. Demographic data of the patient, family, and professional interviewed were collected and they were asked questions on the environmental conditions, relationship and quality of the information by the staff and the organization of the visits. Results. A total of 52 family members and 69 staff members were interviewed. The professional overestimated the needs of the family members in regards to noise, lighting, comfort, privacy, adequacy of the waiting room and information on the cares received. The professional, on the contrary to the family, thought that they adequately informed about the apparatuses used and that they knew the name of the nurse. Both groups coincided that they knew the name of the doctors, that they were informed of the situation on admission, that the visiting hours were adequate, that more than 2 family members could go into the box and that they were more comfortable if they could be sitting down. Conclusions. Satisfaction of the family was greater than that of the professional interviewed. We stress the need to improve the waiting room, personalized care and the need to individually evaluate flexibility in the visiting hours.

Palavras-chave : Intensive Care Unit; needs; quality of care.