Stakeholders' perceptions of family-centred care in the intensive care unit: An associative group analysis.

AIM: To explore different stakeholders' including nurses, health care professionals and family member's perceptions of ideal family-centred care in an intensive care unit. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used a mixed method approach to identify perceptions of family-centred care with 60 stakeholders of equal numbers who voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected over one month using an associative group analysis method. The responses were ranked, scored, thematically themed and weighted. SETTING: A 23 bed adult intensive care unit in an urban private hospital in South Africa. FINDINGS: According to the stakeholders' responses, ideal family-centred care should be built around communication based on expectations and engagement. In addition, the physical environment should allow for overall comfort and spiritual care must be incorporated. CONCLUSION: Stakeholders had similar perceptions on the main themes however; nuances of different perspectives were identified showing some of the complexities related to family-centred care. Spiritual care was highlighted by the family members, revealing the need to broaden the care perspectives of healthcare providers.