Shifting focus: A grounded theory of how family members to critically ill patients manage their situation.

Intensive Crit Care Nurs

Center for Collaborative Palliative Care, Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, Universitetsplatsen 1, SE-352 52 Växjö, Sweden. Electronic address:

Published: October 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study investigates how family members of critically ill patients cope with the emotional and psychological challenges they face during and after the patient's intensive care treatment.
  • Using classic grounded theory, researchers conducted interviews and observations with family members to identify their main concerns and coping strategies.
  • The findings highlight that family members often shift their focus from their own needs to the patient's survival, and the study emphasizes the importance of healthcare professionals providing support and clear communication to help them through this difficult process.

Article Abstract

Objectives: Critical illness is a life-threatening condition for the patient, which affects their family members as a traumatic experience. Well-known long-term consequences include impact on mental health and health-related quality of life. This study aims to develop a grounded theory to explain pattern of behaviours in family members of critically ill patients cared for in an intensive care unit, addressing the period from when the patient becomes critically ill until recovery at home.

Research Methodology/design: We used a classic grounded theory to explore the main concern for family members of intensive care patients. Fourteen interviews and seven observations with a total of 21 participants were analysed. Data were collected from February 2019 to June 2021.

Setting: Three general intensive care units in Sweden, consisting of a university hospital and two county hospitals.

Findings: The theory Shifting focus explains how family members' main concern, living on hold, is managed. This theory involves different strategies: decoding, sheltering and emotional processing. The theory has three different outcomes: adjusting focus, emotional resigning or remaining in focus.

Conclusion: Family members could stand in the shadow of the patients' critical illness and needs. This emotional adversity is processed through shifting focus from one's own needs and well-being to the patient's survival, needs and well-being. This theory can raise awareness of how family members of critically ill patients manage the process from critical illness until return to everyday life at home. Future research focusing on family members' need for support and information, to reduce stress in everyday life, is needed.

Implications For Clinical Practice: Healthcare professionals should support family members in shifting focus by interaction, clear and honest communication, and through mediating hope.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2023.103478DOI Listing

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