The effect of providing information to patients on their perception of the intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effect the provision of information about the physical and technological environment of the intensive care unit (ICU) had on whether patients felt discomfort during their ICU experience.

Design and Setting: The study used a quasi-experimental design. Patients were selected through convenience sampling at a university hospital in Erzurum, Turkey.

Subjects: There were 80 patients in the study; 40 in the study group (SG) and another 40 in the control group (CG). Five patients in the study group left the study during the study period.

Main outcome measures: The effect of the provision of information on a patient’s perception of their level of discomfort during their stay in an ICU was assessed using the Situational Form of Technological Atmosphere in ICU (SFTA-ICU) which is a 24 item instrument designed to measure the level of disturbance felt by patients exposed to different environmental situations in an ICU.

Results: 8.6% of the SG and 45% of the CG felt discomfort about their inability to move; 2.9% of the SG and 45% of the CG about their inability to see their relatives; 14.3% of the SG and 40% of the CG about the closed environment of the ICU; 22.5 % of the SG and 40%
of the CG about loneliness; 17.1% of the SG and 65% of the CG about nakedness; 11.4% of the SG and 37.5% of the CG about the instruments used on fellow patients; 20% of the SG and 50% of the CG about their inability to express their needs; and 14.3% of the SG
and 42.5% of the CG about not being informed before procedures. The difference among the groups was found to be statistically significant.

Conclusions: Well-planned information provided to patients preoperatively about the ICU may reduce the rate of discomfort to patients postoperatively caused by the ICU environment, procedures and treatments, and staff responses.