Family satisfaction in the intensive care unit: what makes the difference?
Stricker, Kay ; Kimberger, Oliver ; Schmidlin, Kurt ; Zwahlen, Marcel ; Mohr, Ulrike ; Rothen, Hans
In: Intensive Care Medicine, 2009, vol. 35, no. 12, p. 2051-2059
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- Purpose: To assess family satisfaction in the ICU and to identify parameters for improvement. Methods: Multicenter study in Swiss ICUs. Families were given a questionnaire covering overall satisfaction, satisfaction with care and satisfaction with information/decision-making. Demographic, medical and institutional data were gathered from patients, visitors and ICUs. Results: A total of 996 questionnaires from family members were analyzed. Individual questions were assessed, and summary measures (range 0-100) were calculated, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. Summary score was 78±14 (mean±SD) for overall satisfaction, 79±14 for care and 77±15 for information/decision-making. In multivariable multilevel linear regression analyses, higher severity of illness was associated with higher satisfaction, while a higher patient:nurse ratio and written admission/discharge criteria were associated with lower overall satisfaction. Using performance-importance plots, items with high impact on overall satisfaction but low satisfaction were identified. They included: emotional support, providing understandable, complete, consistent information and coordination of care. Conclusions: Overall, proxies were satisfied with care and with information/decision-making. Still, several factors, such as emotional support, coordination of care and communication, are associated with poor satisfaction, suggesting the need for improvement