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Intensive Care Medicine
Published in: Intensive Care Medicine 12/2009

01-12-2009 | Original

Family satisfaction in the intensive care unit: what makes the difference?

Authors: Kay H. Stricker, Oliver Kimberger, Kurt Schmidlin, Marcel Zwahlen, Ulrike Mohr, Hans U. Rothen

Published in: Intensive Care Medicine | Issue 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.
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Metadata
Title
Family satisfaction in the intensive care unit: what makes the difference?
Authors
Kay H. Stricker
Oliver Kimberger
Kurt Schmidlin
Marcel Zwahlen
Ulrike Mohr
Hans U. Rothen
Publication date
01-12-2009
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Intensive Care Medicine / Issue 12/2009
Print ISSN: 0342-4642
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1238
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-009-1611-4

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