Dataset Information

Nurses' experiences of serving as a communication guide and supporting the implementation of a communication intervention in the intensive care unit.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

: To explore the experience of serving as a nurse communication guide, supporting the bottom-up implementation of a multi-component communication intervention prototype in the intensive care unit.

Methods

: The overall frame was Complex Interventions, and the study was conducted within the phenomenological-hermeneutic tradition. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with eight nurse communication guides. Data were analysed using a Ricoeur-inspired interpretation method.

Results

: Two main themes emerged: 1) "The communication intervention components provided overview, a conceptual framework, awareness and room for reflection" and 2) "Being a communication guide illuminated the barriers and challenges of implementation". Furthermore, a comprehensive understanding was established that illuminated experiences throughout the analysis: "An ICU communication intervention has to be adaptable to the specific situation and the double need for individualization but also provide overall guidance".

Conclusion

: Findings showed that as communication is inherent to all human beings, it can be difficult to change the communication behaviour of nurses. Therefore, a communication intervention in the intensive care unit must be sensitive to the nurse communication guides' individual communication style. Furthermore, a communication intervention should provide nurse communication guides with overall guidance while at the same time remaining adaptable to the needs of each specific situation.

SUBMITTER: Holm A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8425701 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundHaving a critically ill family member in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a challenging situation and ICU nurses play an important part in supporting relatives to make sense of the situation. Strict visiting policies inhibited the family's presence in ICUs during 2020-22, and the communication between nurses and families changed drastically. Information and support are at the core of the ICU nurses' profession, and the pandemic backdrop created a split between what intensive care nurses have a professional responsibility to perform and which actions were possible. To get a fuller picture, the aim of this study was: To describe intensive care nurses' experiences of communicating and supporting relatives from a distance while working during visiting restrictions.MethodA qualitative descriptive design using individual and semi-structured interviews with 16 ICU nurses. The interviews were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. This study followed the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ).ResultsDue to the visiting restriction during the COVID-19 pandemic, ICU nurses found themselves in a situation where proximity and time to develop an interpersonal connection with relatives disappeared overnight. The nurses' experiences of communicating with and supporting families is described in three themes: "Finding ways to create order out of chaos"; "Guiding the relatives to a fuller picture of the situation"; and "Feeling insufficient in their support".ConclusionVisiting restrictions in the ICU meant that ICU nurses missed vital information about their patients as a person, which might have had a negative effect on personalizing and centring the patient care. But using a combination of digital and audio tools helped nurses to guide the relatives to a clearer picture of the situation as a whole. The support that nurses were able to provide to relatives was often insufficient due to the visiting restriction and as a consequence, they experienced physical and psychological stress.

Project description:RationaleCritically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) often require the care of specialist physicians for clinical or procedural expertise. The current state of communication between specialist physicians and families and nurses has not been explored.ObjectivesTo document the receipt of communication by nurses and family members regarding consultations performed on their patient or loved one, and to quantify how this impacts their overall perceptions of the quality of specialty care.MethodsProspective survey of 60 adult family members and 90 nurses of 189 ICU patients who received a specialist consultation between March and October of 2015 in a single academic medical center in the United States. Surveys measured the prevalence of direct communication-defined as communication conducted in person, via telephone, or via text-page in which the specialist team gathered information about the patient from the nurse/family member and/or shared recommendations for care-and perceived quality of care.ResultsIn about two-thirds of family surveys (40/60) and one-half of nurse surveys (75/160), respondents had no direct communication with the specialist team that performed the consultation. Compared to nurses who had no direct communication with the specialists, those who did were 1.5 times more likely to rate the consultation as "excellent" (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.2-1.8, p<0.001). Nearly 40% (22/60) of families knew so little about the consultation that they felt incapable of evaluating it.ConclusionsMost ICU families and nurses have no interaction with specialist providers. Nurses' frequent exclusion from conversations about specialty care may pose safety risks and increase the likelihood of mixed messages for patients and families, most of whom desire some interaction with specialists. Future research is needed to identify effective mechanisms for information sharing that keep nurses and families aware of consultation requests, delivery, and outcomes without increasing the risk of mixed messages.