Needs of adult family members of intensive care unit patients

Aims and objectives. The purpose of this research was to examine current perceptions of adult family members’ needs of intensive care unit patients in the Midwest, USA. Examining family needs may help determine effectiveness of guideline implementation. Background. Family needs of intensive care unit patients is a topic widely researched, but to date, the application of that research to the clinical practice guidelines is limited. Family members’ of intensive care unit patients often experience stress and anxiety because of the high mortality rate of patients in intensive care. Family members are often involved with the patient’s care especially as many units have open visitation policies. Design. Survey. Method. The Critical Care Family Needs Inventory was distributed to a convenience sample of 50 family members from a Central Illinois, not‐for‐profit, 22‐bed intensive care unit in the USA. Results. Forty‐five adult family members returned completed questionnaires. The majority of the sample was female (66·7%), 40% were 49–64 years old. The majority of the sample of family members was spouses (36%) or adult children (36%). Eighty per cent of these family members reported they had previously visited a patient in the intensive care unit. Results of the survey revealed family members perceived assurance as the highest needs categories and support as the least important need. Conclusions. Findings were consistent with earlier studies identifying assurance as a very important need. After publication of clinical practice guidelines for support of the family in the patient‐centred intensive care unit, families continue to report the need for assurance. Relevance to clinical practice. Nurses need to give increased attention to effectively implementing clinical practice guidelines in an effort to meet family members’ needs, especially those related to assurance. Assurance may be expressed differently by various cultures.