Family Needs in Intensive Care: Comparison of Family-Nurse Perceptions

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the importance level of the needs of family members according to the perceptions of family members and nurses, and the satisfaction level of these needs.
Material and Method: The research was carried out in the internal medicine and intensive care units of a university hospital. 100 family members and 105 nurses were participated. Critical Care Family Needs Inventory was used to determine the importance and satisfaction levels of the family members ‘needs.
Results: According to the "Critical Care Family Needs Inventory", the needs of family members were “very important” (3.40±041) for family members and “important” (2.23±027) for nurses. These needs included in the "Critical Care Family Needs Inventory" were "slightly satisfied" (2.07±0.39). The assurance/proximity and information needs were “very important” for the family members and “important” for the nurses, and the majority of the needs were mostly satisfied. Support/comfort needs were “important” for family members and “slightly important” for the nurses, and these needs were slightly satisfied.
Conclusion: The research showed that the needs in the “Critical Care Family Needs Inventory” were very important for family members, but these needs were not mostly satisfied. In the research, it was a remarkable result that the needs considered very important for nurses were mostly satisfied. Therefore, explaining/introducing these very important needs for family members to ICU nurses may allow these needs to be satisfied.