Family-Centered Care: Meeting the Needs of Patients’ Families and Helping Families Adapt to Critical Illness

Each family member’s own health may be affected by whether his or her needs are met and by the actions of the health care team.

This poem is based on a true experience that I had with an elderly woman when I was working as a nurse manager/clinical nurse specialist. The woman experienced unnecessary distress after her husband’s death because she lacked information about the cause of death and had misinterpreted events. She carried this burden for a whole year before getting clarification. The vignette illuminates a common problem in the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients’ family members are personally affected by the experience with critical care. Each family member’s own health and well-being may be affected by whether his or her needs are met and by the actions of the health care team.^1,–7 

In the terms of the grand theorist, Sister Calista Roy, critical illness...