Sharing the critically ill patient’s information with the family: Reflections and lessons learned

Abstract

Objective: This article highlights the lessons learned from sharing the critically ill patient’s health information with the family. The objective of the study was to explore the reflections of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses with regards to their encounters with sharing the critically ill patient’s information with the family.

Methods: Four focus group interviews were conducted with purposively selected ICU nurses; and data were analysed using qualitative interpretive analysis.

Results: The findings indicated policy on dispensing patient information and enforcing patients’ rights as the topics from the reflections; from which lessons were learned during sharing patient information with the families.

Conclusions: The ICU nurses learned the importance of sharing information with the families, despite the challenges inherent to maintaining confidentiality.