Involving relatives in the intensive care unit

Critically ill patients require more than just intensive medical and nursing care. Family members are considered to play a vital role in the recovery process of intensive care patients. In this context, the involvement of relatives should be regarded as part of the nursing role in the intensive care unit. However, in many cases, this is rejected by intensive care nurses for personal, structural and organisational reasons. Following a brief overview of the current situation and the role of adult intensive care patients, as well as their relatives, and the theoretical background to this, this book identifies and describes the significance of the presence of relatives in adult intensive care units for intensive care patients, nursing staff and family members. Furthermore, it outlines measures taken by nursing staff to involve relatives in the intensive care unit. Finally, the findings presented are critically discussed and the limitations of this book are highlighted. The appendix contains a brief evaluation of all the included studies.