Needs Of Family Members Of Patients Admitted In Two Intensive Care Units In Windhoek

ABSTRACT

The admission of a relative to an intensive care unit (ICU) is a stressful experience for family members because most admissions are urgent and unexpected. Hence, it is imperative for health care professionals to be knowledgeable about their needs to promote optimal outcomes for both the patient and family members during admission for critical illness.

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the needs of family members of patients admitted in the ICU in a private and state hospital in Windhoek, Namibia. A quantitative, descriptive and comparative design was used to describe and compare the needs of family members of patients in ICU at a state and private hospital respectively for comparison. Family members (n=130) were recruited using the random sampling method. A 43 point questionnaire that was adopted from the critical care family needs inventory (CCFNI) was used to collect data. The participants identified various needs for the family during the patient‟s admission in ICU and rated the level of importance on a four-point Likert scale from 1= not important to 4=very important.

From the findings, it emerged that assurance was the most important need (72.1%) followed by the need for information (54.5%), proximity (34.7%), support (30.79%) and lastly comfort (29.8%). A comparison was also made between findings from the private and the state ICU. There were no statistically significant differences between the results from both hospitals.

These results offer an understanding for nurses and other health care professionals of the important needs that must be considered when addressing family members of

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patients in ICU. Recommendations were made and submitted to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Roman Catholic Hospital and areas of further research identified.