Survey into bereavement of family members of patients who died in the intensive care unit

van der Klink, Marjoleine A.; Heijboer, Liza; Hofhuis, José G.M.; Hovingh, Aly; Rommes, Johannes H.; Westerman, Marjan J.; Spronk, Peter E.

doi:10.1016/j.iccn.2010.05.004

« Previous Next »Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Volume 26, Issue 4 , Pages 215-225, August 2010

Survey into bereavement of family members of patients who died in the intensive care unit

Marjoleine A. van der Klink
- Department of Intensive Care, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
- Department of “Earth and Life Sciences”, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Both authors contributed equally to this work.
Liza Heijboer
- Department of Intensive Care, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
- Department of “Earth and Life Sciences”, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Both authors contributed equally to this work.
José G.M. Hofhuis
- Department of Intensive Care, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author at: Gelre Hospitals Apeldoorn, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Albert Schweitzerlaan 31, 7334 DZ Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 55 5818451; fax: +31 55 5818456.
Aly Hovingh
- Department of Intensive Care, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Johannes H. Rommes
- Department of Intensive Care, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Marjan J. Westerman
- Department of “Earth and Life Sciences”, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Peter E. Spronk
- Department of Intensive Care, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
- HERMES Critical Care Group, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Accepted 19 May 2010.

Summary

Background

The death of a family member in the intensive care unit (ICU) is often sudden and unexpected and may have a strong impact on family members.

Objective

To describe the characteristics of bereavement, to find out if there is a need for follow-up bereavement service and to determine if the information and care in the ICU is sufficient for relatives of deceased ICU patients.

Methods

An exploratory cross-sectional study using a structured telephone interview in 51 relatives, in a 10 bed adult mixed medical-surgical ICU. Respondents were selected according to three criteria; (1) their relative had died between June 2008 and June 2009 in the ICU, (2) they were involved during the ICU stay preceding death and (3) had sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language.

Results

A majority (77%) was satisfied with the delivered ICU-care and the information provided. Most common complaints concerned communication and the information provided. Almost all the respondents (90%) understood the fatal sequence of events during the dying process. Subsequently, a substantial portion of the respondents (37%) complained about ‘sleeping problems’. The need for a follow-up bereavement service was reported by 35% of the respondents.

Conclusions

Despite a high level of satisfaction with the care provided in the ICU many respondents considered a follow-up bereavement service potentially useful to deal with the death of the family member and to get remaining questions answered.

Keywords: Death, Bereavement, Survey, ICU