Supporting Critically Ill Patients And Their Families In The Intensive Care Unit A systematic literature review

Abstract

Admission into the ICU sometimes happen unexpectedly and most of the time family members are caught unaware. This leaves them at a stressful position, considering the ICU itself is a stressful environment full of new and advanced equipment. This study aims to gain better knowledge and understanding of patient and family care in the intensive care unit and in the process, aims to answer the research question; what is the role of nurses in is supporting families of critically ill patients in the ICU ? The study is conducted through a systematic literature review data collection to place in different databases which were Ebscohost, CINAHL, Medline and Google Scholar, a total of 8 scientific articles were retreaved. From the research, three themes emerged, facilitating communication; how nurses can better communication and keep the family informed, involving family; how they can integrate family member into patient care and give them an active role and offering emotional support; helping family members. This study points out how nurses can help families of critically ill patients cope better when their loved ones are admitted in the ICU, it explained the ways that nurses can better communication in the ICU, involve family actively in patient care in the ICU and give them emotional support, in these ways family members can have better experiences and help them cope in the stressful times.