Challenges faced by families of critically ill patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jared A Greenberg, Santosh Basapur, Thomas V Quinn and 5 others
PMID 34507866WHAT IT FOUND
Families of ICU patients during early COVID-19 visitation restrictions reported four challenges: waiting for phone updates, relaying information to relatives, tracking medical details, and distress from not visiting.
They adjusted with routines, group messages, notes, and video calls.
Key findings
01Four challenge types emerged: communication with the medical team, communication among family members, understanding and tracking medical information, and distress related to visitor restrictions.
02Participants adjusted by creating a routine around daily phone updates and using group texts or online platforms.
03Video calls helped some participants cope with not being able to visit.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done at one academic medical center during the first wave of the pandemic, when staff were still learning how to care for patients with COVID-19. Only 62 of the 100 enrolled surrogates were interviewed, and interviews were not done if the patient had died before scheduling. Surrogates had to be English-fluent and have email access, so families without those resources may be underrepresented. The small sample did not allow the researchers to test whether demographic groups faced different challenges. The paper reports experiences, not effects of the daily written summaries or any communication strategy.
Declared interests
This work was supported by the Rush Coronavirus Research Fund. The authors declare no competing financial interests or personal relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that daily phone updates or video calls improve family distress or patient outcomes. It is a qualitative study of surrogate experiences, not a tested intervention, and families whose patient died before scheduling were not interviewed.