Needs Assessment of Critically ill Patients and Their Families at Intensive Care Unit

Background: Critically ill patients have many physical and psychological needs which contribute to disease progression and are at risk for worsening of their condition. Family’s ability to support patients may be compromised by their own psychological distress. So, significant progress has been made to incorporate nursing care from a patient-centered approach to family centered focus. Aim: This study aimed to assess needs of critically ill patients and their families at intensive care unit. Design: A descriptive exploratory design was utilized to achieve the aim of this study. Setting: the study was conducted at intensive care unit at General Bulaq Dakror hospital. Sample: A purposive sample of sixty patients and sixty family members were included in the study. Tools: Four tools were used in this study: structured interview questionnaire, barthel index scale, intensive care unit environmental stressor scale and critical care family needs inventory. Results: the study demonstrated that the mean age of the studied patients was (61.00 + 13.28) and mean age of the studied family member was(36.68 + 11.08) and two thirds of them had son or daughter relation to patient. Less than half of the studied patients were minimally dependent. The highest mean score of intensive care unit stressors of the studied patients was for enviromental stressors. While, the highest mean score of studied family members’ needs was for assurance and anxiety reduction needs. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant relation between physical needs and educational level of the studied patients, as well, there was a statistically significant relation between the total mean scores of information needs and educational level of the studied family members and between the total mean scores of support needs and number of family member’s visits to patient.Recommendations: This study recommends continuous assessment of the most important and largely unmet needs of critically ill patients and their family members.