Family members' perceptions of counselling during visits to loved ones in an adult ICU.
Minna Vanhanen, Merja H Meriläinen, Tero Ala-Kokko and 2 others
PMID 37018387WHAT IT FOUND
Fifty-five family members rated ICU counselling good overall, but reported low satisfaction with checking understanding, feedback, and post-ICU information.
They wanted dialogue, not just information.
Key findings
01Family members rated overall counselling quality 4.61 on a scale from 1 poor to 5 excellent.
02Only 29% said staff checked whether they understood counselling issues, and only 43% said they could give feedback.
03Younger respondents were less satisfied than respondents over 50 with knowledge about disease, ICU environment, and recovery.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Respondents were not randomly selected. The findings may not apply to other ICU families. Only 55 family members were analysed, and five incomplete questionnaires were excluded. The small analysed sample limits generalizability. The response rate was 55% of 100 distributed questionnaires. The study measured family members' perceptions at one time. It cannot show that counselling caused better family functioning. Only completed questionnaires were analysed because responses to all items were needed.
Declared interests
This research received no specific grant, and the authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the mean score of 4.61 as evidence that counselling works. It is a perception rating from 55 family members at one time, and the study did not test a counselling intervention.