[Needs of the families in a Critical Care Unit]. / Necesidades de los familiares en una Unidad de Cuidados Críticos.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the needs of the family of admitted patients in the Critical Care Unit (CCU), and their level of satisfaction with the attention that they received. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study. SETTING: Critical Care Unit, Virgen Macarena University Hospital, Seville. SUBJECTS OF THE STUDY: Two-hundred and sixty-eight families were selected through a random sampling system. INSTRUMENTS: A survey was developed using bibliography as reference. RESULTS: According to information, it was observed that receiving information after visiting hours and its access was difficult in regards to unforeseen changes in the patient's course. On the other hand, there were high levels of satisfactions with the attention received and with the nursing cares. Nevertheless, several deficiencies were observed in the identification of all the professionals, the visiting hours, the physical conditions of the waiting room, and privacy within patient's care environment. CONCLUSIONS: One of the principal needs of the relatives was to spend more time with the patients. Regarding to the information, access after visiting hours, and on that regarding unforeseen changes in the patient's evolution should be reviewed. Regarding satisfaction, in general, families were highly satisfied with the attention received, especially with the nurse's care. Nevertheless, these professionals should encourage the participation of the families in the patient's care. Moreover, all the areas of improvement observed should be dealt with urgently, mainly the visiting hours.

Necesidades de los familiares en una Unidad de Cuidados Críticos / Needs of the families in a Critical Care Unit

Objetivo. Conocer las necesidades de los familiares de los pacientes ingresados en unaUnidad de Cuidados Críticos (UCC) y su satisfacción con la atención recibida.Diseño. Estudio observacional transversal.Ámbito de estudio. UCC del Hospital Virgen Macarena, ubicado en Sevilla.Sujetos de estudio. Doscientos sesenta y ocho familiares seleccionados mediante unmuestreo aleatorio sistemático.Instrumento. Se elaboró una encuesta en base a la bibliografía.Resultados. En cuanto a la información, se evidenció la dificultad para tener acceso aella fuera de las horas de las visitas y para tener noticia de los cambios imprevistos en laevolución de los pacientes. Por otra parte, se detectaron elevados niveles de satisfaccióncon la atención recibida y con el trato de las enfermeras. No obstante, se observarondeficiencias en la identificación de todos los profesionales, el régimen de visitas, lascondiciones físicas de la sala de espera y la intimidad en el entorno de cuidados delpaciente.Conclusiones. Una de las principales necesidades de los familiares es pasar más tiempocon los pacientes. En cuanto a la información, debería revisarse su accesibilidad fueradel horario de visitas, y la que se ofrece sobre los cambios imprevistos en la evoluciónde los pacientes. Respecto a la satisfacción, en general, los familiares se mostraron altamentesatisfechos con la atención recibida, sobre todo con el trato de las enfermeras.En cualquier caso, estas profesionales deberían favorecer la participación de la familiaen los cuidados del paciente. Además, todas las áreas de mejora que se evidenciaronprecisan de una urgente revisión, en especial, el régimen de visitas(AU)

Objectives. To identify the needs of the family of admitted patients in the Critical CareUnit (CCU), and their level of satisfaction with the attention that they received.Design. Cross-sectional, observational study.Setting. Critical Care Unit, Virgen Macarena University Hospital, Seville.Subjects of the study. Two-hundred and sixty-eight families were selected through arandom sampling system.Instruments. A survey was developed using bibliography as reference.Results. According to information, it was observed that receiving information aftervisiting hours and its access was difficult in regards to unforeseen changes in the patient’scourse. On the other hand, there were high levels of satisfactions with the attentionreceived and with the nursing cares. Nevertheless, several deficiencies were observed inthe identification of all the professionals, the visiting hours, the physical conditions ofthe waiting room, and privacy within patient’s care environment.Conclusions. One of the principal needs of the relatives was to spend more time withthe patients. Regarding to the information, access after visiting hours, and on thatregarding unforeseen changes in the patient’s evolution should be reviewed. Regardingsatisfaction, in general, families were highly satisfied with the attention received,especially with the nurse’s care. Nevertheless, these professionals should encouragethe participation of the families in the patient’s care. Moreover, all the areas ofimprovement observed should be dealt with urgently, mainly the visiting hours(AU)