The Needs of Malaysian Family Members of Critically Ill Patients Treated in Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia
- Author:
T. Kumaravadivel Dharmalingam
;
Mohammad Rahim Kamaluddin
;
Shamsul Kamalrujan Hassan
;
Rhendra Hardy Mohammad Zaini
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Critical care;
family members;
Intensive Care Unit;
needs;
patient
- MeSH:
Critical Care
- From:Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences
2016;12(2):9-17
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background: The needs of intensive care patient’s family
members are often neglected. Many healthcare practitioners do
not realize that meeting the family needs in the intensive care
settings actually may improve outcome for their patients and
enable the family members to cope and deal with the patient’s
hospitalization period effectively. With this in mind, the present
study aimed to address the needs of Malaysian family members
of intensive care unit patients. Methods: This cross-sectional
survey was conducted among family members of Intensive Care
Unit of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. A total of
60 family members were recruited using a convenience sampling
manner. A Malay validated Critical Care Family Needs
Inventory was used to identify the family needs among the
respondents. Descriptive statistics as well as mean comparison
analyses were employed to achieve the study. Results: The
findings showed that family members ranked Assurance items as
the most important needs. In terms of subscales scores,
Assurance and Information evidenced higher mean scores
compared to other dimensions. All the family need dimensions
had positive and significant associations with one another. The
highest correlation was noted among Comfort – Support pair,
r(58) = 0.73, p < 0.001. No significant differences in the mean
values found across gender, history of admission and types of
relationships. In contrast, significant mean difference was
observed across level of education. Conclusion: Identifying the
needs of family members in the intensive care unit is imperative
as it raises awareness and contributes knowledge in terms of
family needs to healthcare providers, policy makers, medical
social workers and general public.
- Full text:P020161130305797876862.pdf
