Family Needs of Patients Admitted in Intensive Care Units, as Perceived by Family Members and Registered Nurses in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Admission into the Intensive Care Units of the patient is a crucial time not only for the patient but also for the family. The family is faced with various challenges. Healthcare professionals are required to understand their needs. The objective of the study was to identify and compare the family needs of patients admitted to intensive care units as perceived by family members and registered nurses. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital and Dow University Hospital Karachi from December 2020 to February 2021. An adopted self-administered questionnaire of the Critical Care Family Need Inventory (CCFNI) was utilized for data collection. The tool consisted of 45 items of family needs in the form of a Likert scale having options rated from 01 to 04. The tool was divided into five subscales of Comfort, Information, Assurance, Support and Proximity. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for the categorical variables. Means and standard deviations were calculated for measuring the responses of the Likert scales. An Independent t-test was applied to compare the means of subscales. A total of 162 participants were included in the study. The total sample comprised 30 nurses and 132 family members. The most important need identified by the family members was to talk to the doctor every day (3.60±0.604) while the staff nurses identified to have a religious leader visit (3.90±0.305). The findings of the current study demonstrate that gap exists between the doctor and family members. The highest score for the dimension of comfort indicated that critical units lack the essential facilities.

Keywords

• ccfni
• family needs
• family members
• intensive care unit
• registered nurse.