Family members' experiences of the intensive care unit waiting room

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to explore family members' perspectives and experiences of waiting rooms in adult intensive care units. BACKGROUND: Waiting to visit family members who are hospitalized in intensive care units can be very stressful. Although flexible and or open visiting is practised in many hospitals, family members may spend a great deal of time in the waiting room. METHOD: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews was used and the data were collected in 2004. A convenience sample of six visitors was recruited from waiting rooms of three different adult intensive care units. Data collection and analysis were concurrent. FINDINGS: Six categories emerged from the data that included structural and subjective aspects of waiting: 'close proximity' referred to the importance of a close physical distance to their family member; 'caring staff' captured the comfort family members felt when staff showed caring behaviours towards relative; 'need for a comfortable environment' represented the impact of the design of the waiting room on family members well-being; 'emotional support' referred to the waiting room as a place where comfort was found by sharing with others; 'rollercoaster of emotions' captured the range of emotions experienced by family members; 'information' referred to the importance of receiving information about their relative. CONCLUSION: Future research should focus on the impact of the interior design of waiting rooms on the comfort and welfare of family members and on identifying needs of family members across different cultures.     

Experience of neonatal intensive care unit nurses in providing developmentally‐supportive care: A qualitative study

Many challenges have been noted in the implementation of developmentally‐supportive care principles in neonatal intensive care units, despite evidence that adhering to such care principles achieves positive results for the neonate. The aim of this study was to explore and describe compliance in adhering to developmentally‐supportive care principles implemented in one neonatal intensive care unit in South Africa. An exploratory design was used in this qualitative study with purposive sampling to select eligible neonatal intensive care registered nurses (n = 14) as participants. Participants all worked in a 10 bed neonatal intensive care unit at a large tertiary care public hospital. Six audio‐recorded interviews were conducted, with recordings subsequently transcribed and analyzed. Three main themes were identified: value of developmentally‐supportive care, nature of developmentally‐supportive care, and barriers to developmentally‐supportive care. One of the main themes had subthemes, which substantiated the findings, and included parent involvement, nurse engagement, and holistic care. Study outcomes offer insight into the development or revision of policies and practices, which are crucial when implementing developmentally‐supportive care, particularly in resource‐poor settings where challenges are magnified.     

Reconsidering the transfer of patients from the intensive care unit to the ward: a case study approach

Evidence indicates that the poorly managed transfer of a patient from the intensive care unit (ICU) to the ward can lead to physical and psychological complications for the patient, and often require ICU readmission and rehospitalization. Reviewing this patient transfer process to improve the quality of care would be a positive step towards enhancing patients' recovery and providing skills to staff. The aim of this paper is to review case studies of transferring ICU patients to general wards in order to identify the shortcomings of this process. A literature review was conducted to evaluate current practices in the ICU transfer process. The results of this paper have clinical implications, suggest approaches to improve support for patients and their carers, and provide strategies to improve the transfer procedure.