lnu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Shifting focus: A grounded theory of how family members to critically ill patients manage their situation
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
University of Gävle, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
Show others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Intensive & Critical Care Nursing, ISSN 0964-3397, E-ISSN 1532-4036, Vol. 78, article id 103478Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Objectives: Critical illness is a life-threatening condition for the patient, which affects their family members as a traumatic experience. Well-known long-term consequences include impact on mental health and health-related quality of life. This study aims to develop a grounded theory to explain pattern of behaviours in family members of critically ill patients cared for in an intensive care unit, addressing the period from when the patient becomes critically ill until recovery at home.Research methodology/design: We used a classic grounded theory to explore the main concern for family members of intensive care patients. Fourteen interviews and seven observations with a total of 21 participants were analysed. Data were collected from February 2019 to June 2021.Setting: Three general intensive care units in Sweden, consisting of a university hospital and two county hospitals.Findings: The theory Shifting focus explains how family members' main concern, living on hold, is managed. This theory involves different strategies: decoding, sheltering and emotional processing. The theory has three different outcomes: adjusting focus, emotional resigning or remaining in focus.Conclusion: Family members could stand in the shadow of the patients' critical illness and needs. This emotional adversity is processed through shifting focus from one's own needs and well-being to the patient's survival, needs and well-being. This theory can raise awareness of how family members of critically ill patients manage the process from critical illness until return to everyday life at home. Future research focusing on family members' need for support and information, to reduce stress in everyday life, is needed.Implications for Clinical Practice: Healthcare professionals should support family members in shifting focus by interaction, clear and honest communication, and through mediating hope.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2023. Vol. 78, article id 103478
Keywords [en]
Critical care, Critical care nursing, Families, Grounded theory, Intensive care units, Patient, and family centred care
National Category
Nursing
Research subject
Health and Caring Sciences, Nursing
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-123659DOI: 10.1016/j.iccn.2023.103478ISI: 001034539500001PubMedID: 37384978Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85163423548OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-123659DiVA, id: diva2:1787565
Available from: 2023-08-14 Created: 2023-08-14 Last updated: 2023-09-07Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMedScopus

Authority records

Sandgren, Anna

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Sandgren, Anna
By organisation
Department of Health and Caring Sciences
In the same journal
Intensive & Critical Care Nursing
Nursing

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 64 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf