Humanising support and follow-up after critical illness Aqualitative study of the experiences of former intensive care patients, their family members and intensiv care nurses

Abstract

This thesis explores the experiences of support and follow-up after critical illness and intensive care treatment. During the period in which this PhD study was undertaken, we went through a worldwide pandemic. With an increasing number of patients in need of intensive care treatment, this area within the health care system was given a comprehensive media coverage, increasing awareness of intensive care among the general population. However, the data on which this thesis is based were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic; hence, this perspective is not taken specifically into account. It will, however, be discussed when appropriate.

Having worked as an intensive care nurse for several years, my interest grew in how patients and their families are affected by critical illness and intensive care treatment and what follow-up they need. I embarked on this study with a preconception that patients and their family members need more support and follow-up in their post-hospitalisation life than they often receive. In the intensive care unit (ICU) in which I worked, we offered nurse-led follow-up consisting of a patient diary and a follow-up conversation with those patients who had received a diary. Writing a diary was not an obligatory task; rather, it depended on the nurses’ interest and enthusiasm. Not all patients received a diary, which meant that not all received an offer to come back to the ICU for a follow-up conversation. Patients who came back to the ICU were often accompanied by a family member, but the conversation was directed toward the patient and their experiences. Embarking on this study, I wanted to explore the area of support and follow-up during and after critical illness and intensive care, from the perspectives of patients, their family members and intensive care nurses.