The Importance of Fulfillment of Family Needs at Critical Care Units

Hospitalization of patients in the critical care units greatly affects their families and their balance. Attention to family needs can affect the treatment process. Identifying the needs of patients’ families and the extent to which they can be fulfilled can affect the treatment process.
The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of family needs of ICU patients and the extent of meeting their needs.
This is a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study. The research population consisted of the families of patients admitted to the general ICU and neurosurgery department of Rasht Medical Education Center. A standardized tool, Critical Care Family Need’s Inventory (CCFNI), was used to assess the needs of ICU patients’ families. A total of 167 relatives of patients were included in the study. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, mean, and standard deviation). The significance of needs was compared with their satisfaction using the Wilcoxon test.
Among the five areas of family needs of ICU patients, the area of assurance was the most important (3.46±0.30) of the family needs of ICU patients and the level of satisfaction needs in the area of assurance (3.11±0.30) was higher than in other areas. The average score of the need importance and the level of satisfaction in the family of ICU patients shows that 10%, 7%, 15%, 16%, and 15% of the needs in the reassurance, comfort, information, close contact with the patient, and supportive dimensions were not met by the treatment staff to the extent of their importance.
According to the results, the general average satisfaction of family needs in ICU patients is less than the average importance of their needs.