Erschienen in:
01.12.2009 | Original
Family satisfaction in the intensive care unit: what makes the difference?
verfasst von:
Kay H. Stricker, Oliver Kimberger, Kurt Schmidlin, Marcel Zwahlen, Ulrike Mohr, Hans U. Rothen
Erschienen in:
Intensive Care Medicine
|
Ausgabe 12/2009
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Abstract
Purpose
To assess family satisfaction in the ICU and to identify parameters for improvement.
Methods
Multicenter study in Swiss ICUs. Families were given a questionnaire covering overall satisfaction, satisfaction with care and satisfaction with information/decision-making. Demographic, medical and institutional data were gathered from patients, visitors and ICUs.
Results
A total of 996 questionnaires from family members were analyzed. Individual questions were assessed, and summary measures (range 0–100) were calculated, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. Summary score was 78 ± 14 (mean ± SD) for overall satisfaction, 79 ± 14 for care and 77 ± 15 for information/decision-making. In multivariable multilevel linear regression analyses, higher severity of illness was associated with higher satisfaction, while a higher patient:nurse ratio and written admission/discharge criteria were associated with lower overall satisfaction. Using performance-importance plots, items with high impact on overall satisfaction but low satisfaction were identified. They included: emotional support, providing understandable, complete, consistent information and coordination of care.
Conclusions
Overall, proxies were satisfied with care and with information/decision-making. Still, several factors, such as emotional support, coordination of care and communication, are associated with poor satisfaction, suggesting the need for improvement.