Abstract
Admission of a patient with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an intensive care
unit (ICU) usually causes a crisis in a family, as it is an unexpected event.
Initially, intensive nursing care is focused on maintaining the physiological
stability of the patient and much less on the concerns and needs of the
family members. The researcher observed and experienced families to be
aggressive, emotional, erratic, frustrated and confrontational and therefore
the question regarding the causes of this behaviour arose.
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived
experiences of families of patients with a TBI in ICU during the acute
phase by using a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual
design.
Purposive sampling was used. Members of families of TBI patients, who
visited the patient daily during the first ten to fourteen days post injury,
were selected. In-depth individual interviews were conducted to collect
data. The question posed to the participant was: “How is it for you to have
had a family member in the ICU for the past few days?”
The researcher and the independent coder used Giorgi’s descriptive
phenomenology method for data analysis to ensure the approach is best
suited for the phenomenon under investigation. Adherence to ethical
standards in accordance with the principles of respect for persons, the
beneficence principle, and the principle of justice were applied.
Trustworthiness was ensured through the principles of credibility,
transferability, dependability and confirmability according to Lincoln and
Guba.
Understanding the families’ experiences may assist the nurses to focus
more on a family-centred approach within the critical care environment...
M.Cur. (Medical Surgical Nursing Science)