This paper examines the role of family-centered care in nursing, with particular focus on intensive care unit (ICU) settings. Drawing on two peer-reviewed studies published in Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, the paper explores how informational support provided by nurses affects family satisfaction, psychological distress, and patient outcomes. The first study uses a cross-sectional pilot design to assess ICU family members' perceptions of support and satisfaction; the second uses qualitative telephone interviews to examine families' direct participation in bedside care. Together, the studies reinforce the professional and ethical obligation nurses have to treat the patient's family as an integral part of the care continuum.
Family-centered care is a significant part of the nursing profession, and it is becoming increasingly important as healthcare changes and evolves. Nurses are charged with being compassionate in their duties and treating every patient as a person of value, regardless of their condition or background (The Guide, 2010). This principle is enshrined in the first provision of the Code of Ethics for Nurses. That same courtesy, however, should extend to the families of patients, as caring for the family as a whole can make the care process easier and more cohesive. Studies have shown that the families of ICU patients can experience lower levels of psychological distress when they are provided with informational support from nurses (Bailey et al., 2010). When distress is reduced through the provision of good information, family members are better able to support the patient and cope with that patient's diagnosis, treatment, and care (Bailey et al., 2010).
In the study conducted by Bailey et al. (2010), the goal was to describe the perceptions that family members held regarding the support and information they had received from nurses. All participants had family members who were patients in the ICU, and several areas of perception were addressed, including satisfaction with care, interrelationships, anxiety, and support (Bailey et al., 2010). Collecting this information was intended to refine informational support practices in the authors' local area and to evaluate whether changes should be made to the support — or lack thereof — that families of ICU patients were receiving from nurses. To conduct the study, a cross-sectional pilot study was completed with 29 family members who self-reported on a questionnaire (Bailey et al., 2010).
The setting for the study was a medical-surgical ICU with 22 beds, located within a 659-bed teaching hospital in Montreal, Canada (Bailey et al., 2010). The main finding was that greater informational support corresponded with greater satisfaction among the families of ICU patients (Bailey et al., 2010). This strongly indicates that people who care for loved ones in the hospital need to receive adequate information about those patients' care. Family-centered care recognizes the family as an extension of the patient, and nurses are well positioned to act as the primary conduit of that information.
Each family member who participates in a patient's care — whether in the hospital or after discharge — should know as much as possible about the patient's condition. Greater knowledge enables caregivers to provide appropriate support and to recognize when professional help is needed (Bailey et al., 2010). Because nurses understand the value of patients as unique individuals, providing informational support to family members also honors those patients and gives them the best opportunity for a positive outcome.
"Mitchell and Chaboyer qualitative study overview"
"Themes of partnership, connection, and care coordination"
Family members in the study were concerned about being able to provide the proper level of care to their sick relatives, and also concerned about whether they were receiving enough information and support from the nurses also caring for the patient (Mitchell & Chaboyer, 2010). Overall, family members valued participating in the care of their ill relatives, because it gave them a sense of purpose and allowed them to be helpful to someone they love (Mitchell & Chaboyer, 2010). When nurses individualized and personalized patient care, family members reported greater satisfaction and patients achieved better outcomes (Mitchell & Chaboyer, 2010). The communication between nurse and family caregiver helped to advance the communication between caregiver and patient, which was found to be especially valuable for critically ill patients (Mitchell & Chaboyer, 2010). Taken together, both studies reinforce the importance and value of family-centered care as a cornerstone of professional nursing practice.
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