Family Journaling to Reduce Stress Manifestations in Patients and Families After Critical Illness.

Background: Few studies have clearly provided evidence evaluating the effectiveness of family-written journals in reducing stress after critical illness.

Objective: Study whether critical care unit (CCU) patients and their families who participated in journaling compared to those who did not, experience lower stress manifestations after discharge.

Methods: Non-randomized controlled trial conducted with CCU patients who required mechanical ventilation for more than 24 hours and a CCU stay more than 72 hours, along with one of their family members.

Results: At 1 and 4 months following CCU discharge, patients with family members who journaled reported fewer stress symptoms when compared to patients who did not have journals (mean Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome 14 [PTSS-14] scores 31.8 vs. 38.1 and 32.2 vs. 34.7, respectively). Family members who journaled, compared to those who did not, reported fewer stress manifestations at 1 month however not at 4 months (mean PTSS-14 scores 26.9 vs. 43.7 and 28.0 vs. 24.4, respectively). There was no significant difference in CCU memories between patient groups at 1 and 4 months.

Conclusion And Implications For Nursing: Research is needed with larger samples however this study supports journaling as a low-cost, nurse-driven, stress reduction intervention for both patients recovering from critical illness and their family members who visit them.