Nurse activities for communicating with the families of patients admitted to an intensive care unit

Objective: To study nurses' perceptions of the quality of communication with the families of patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Method: We performed a cross-sectional, descriptive study among nurses at the ICU of a University Hospital. An anonymous survey was conducted utilizing the modified Nurse Activities for Communicating with Families questionnaire, which measures nurse activities for communicating with patients' relatives. Results: We interviewed 70 nurses, representing 87.5% of the nursing staff. Forty-seven percent (n = 33) sometimes spoke to the family about the patient's illness and treatment and 61% (n = 43) spoke about the patient's medical equipment and treatment. Only 17% (n = 12) usually asked the relatives about the information provided by the physician. Twenty percent (n = 14) never spoke to relatives about their feelings. Twenty-six percent (n = 18) never spoke to the family about the patient's life. Older nursing staff were more likely to ask the family about the patient's life (p = 0.044). Only 48% (n = 34) sometimes spoke to the family about changes in the patient's care plan, and those employed for a longer time at the unit were less likely to speak about this subject (p = 0.028). Conclusions: We found a widespread absence of nurse activities for communicating with the families of admitted patients. Older staff spoke more frequently about patient's lives and those working for longer in the unit were less likely to inform relatives about the care plan. (C) 2008 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.