A phenomenological study on the lived experiences of families of ICU patients, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Family-centered care of ICU patients is increasingly recommended as it is believed to have effect on family members’ psychosocial status and patient outcomes. Defining the nature and extent of families’ involvement in a given health care environment for different stakeholders is a challenge. Understanding the lived experiences of families of ICU patients would help strategize on how to better engage family members for improved ICU care processes and outcomes. Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore the lived experiences of families of patients in the ICUs of hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: The study adopted a qualitative approach and a phenomenological research design. In-depth interviews were conducted with twelve (12) family members who were purposively sampled from two government hospitals and four private hospitals. Thematic approach with the application of hermeneutic circle of interpretation was applied to understand the meanings of their experiences. Results: The study revealed the following major themes: financial burden, challenge in decision making, shattered family integrity and expectations, information and communication gap between family members and health professionals, lack of confidence in the service delivery of hospitals, social pressure against patient families, and families being immersed in an unfriendly environment. Though they do not explicitly mention it to the health care tram, further interpretation of the main themes elucidated that family’s need the intensive care process be cut shorter irrespective of the outcome of the patient condition. Conclusion: The study gave an insight on the multiple and interrelated challenges faced by families of ICU patients admitted in the hospitals of Addis Ababa. Further contextualized interpretation of their experiences revealed that families were somehow in a state of despair and they implicitly need the ICU care for their family member be ended irrespective of the potential clinical consequences on the patient. The philosophy of family-centered care be advocated in hospitals. The study result affirms the need to include family members during nursing assessment of patients in ICUs and also offers the basis for guidelines development on informational support to the families of the patients hospitalized in ICUs.