Open Access

End-of-life Care in the Intesive Care Unit and Nursing Roles in Communicating with Families

Anastasios Tzenalis
Anastasios Tzenalis
, 
Helen Papaemmanuel
Helen Papaemmanuel
, 
George Kipourgos
George Kipourgos
 and 
George Elesnitsalis
George Elesnitsalis
   | May 08, 2023
The Journal of Critical Care Medicine's Cover Image
About this article
Previous Article
Next Article
Cite
Article Category: Research Article
Published Online: May 08, 2023
Page range: 116 - 121
Received: Jan 23, 2023
Accepted: Apr 19, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jccm-2023-0013
Keywords
© 2023 Anastasios Tzenalis et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Descriptive measures of respondents’ attitudes and perceptions regarding end-of-life care and management of critically ill patients

Questions N Median Standard deviation
Q1 Did you explain the patient’s medical equipment and treatments to the family? 81 1.95 1.059
Q2 Have you told the family what to expect from their communication with members of the nursing team? 81 1.79 0.918
Q3 Did you discuss the spiritual or religious needs of the patient’s family? 81 2.62 0.799
Q4 Did you take steps to meet the family’s spiritual or religious needs? 81 2.38 1.019
Q5 Did you talk to the family about their specific needs based on their culture? 81 2.49 0.937
Q6 Did you take action to meet family needs identified in their own culture? 81 2.37 1.006
Q7 Did you talk to the family about what the patient considered important in his life? 81 2.53 0.963
Q8 Did you talk to the family about the patient’s illness and treatment? 81 1.86 1.034
Q9 Have you talked to the family about how they feel about this whole situation they are going through? 81 1.95 1.083
Q10 Did you discuss with the family reminiscing moments of the patient’s life? 81 2.47 0.896
Q11 Have you talked to the family about being able to talk and touch their loved one? 81 1.51 0.853
Q12 Have you discussed with the family what the patient would like if they could participate in the decision about their treatment choice? 81 2.43 0.921
Q13 Have you secured a private place or room for the family so they can talk to each other? 80 2.26 0.882
Q14 Have you talked with the family about any disagreements between the family about the care plan? 80 2.61 0.771
Q15 Have you talked to the family about the changes in the patient’s care plan? 80 2.33 0.978
Q16 Did you support the decision(s) the family made regarding the patient’s care? 80 2.15 1.032
Q17 Have you reassured the family that the patient’s comfort and relief has been ensured? 81 1.37 0.828
Q18 Did you offer adequate support to the family experiencing the end of their patient’s life? 81 1.85 0.976

Mean difference of participants’ attitudes and perceptions by marital status

Questions Marital Status N Mean Rank p-value
Q 10 Did you discuss with the family reminiscing moments of the patient’s life? Married 35 40.26 0,025
Single 35 45.11
Divorced 8 29.00
Widower 2 10.00
Total 80

Demographic profile of respondents

Frequency %
Gender
Male 25 30.9
Female 56 69.1
Age
Up to 24 years old 7 8.6
25-29 14 17.3
30-34 17 21.0
35-39 7 8.6
40-49 31 38.3
50 and above 4 4.9
No Answer 1 1.2
Marital status
Married 35 43.2
Single 35 43.2
Divorced 8 9.9
Widower 2 2.5
No Answer 1 1.2
Educational level
Higher education 50 61.7
Private studies 7 8.6
Postgraduate studies 17 21.0
Ph.D 6 7.4
Higher education and private studies 1 1.2
Previous experience in ICU
1-5 32 39.5
6-10 18 22.2
11-15 14 17.3
15 and above 17 21.0

Mean Difference of Participants’ Attitudes and Perceptions by Age

Questions Age N Mean Rank p-value
Q 8 Did you talk to the family about the patient’s illness and treatment? Up to 24 years old 7 47.93 0.042
25-29 14 36.96
30-34 17 31.44
35-39 7 51.36
40-49 31 43.97
50 and above 4 32.50
Total 80
eISSN:
2393-1817
Language:
English
Publication timeframe:
4 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine, other, Surgery, Anaesthesiology, Emergency Medicine and Intensive-Care Medicine
Journal RSS Feed