Caring for the families of terminally ill patients in the intensive care unit - Critical Care Science (CCS)

Caring for the families of terminally ill patients in the intensive care unit |

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Caring for the families is one of the major tasks of the global care of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). In the context of a terminally ill patient or a patient in whom the recovery from the acute illness is unlikely, dealing with and caring for their family members becomes even more important as the patient will not be awake in most of situations. Family members have specific needs and present with high incidence of symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety and related disorders during the ICU of their beloved one, which can even persist late after the patient's death. CONTENTS: Review of selected studies on the care of family members of patients at the end-of-life admitted to the ICU published at the PubMed database during the last 20 years. CONCLUSIONS: Recent literature is plenty of evidence that strategies directed to care of family members, such as improvement of the communication process, prevention of conflicts, and spiritual care, can improve satisfaction and perception of quality on the care of patients at the end-of-life in the ICU.