[The phenomenon experienced by relatives with a family member hospitalized in the intensive care unit].
The aim of this study is to understand the phenomenon lived by relatives who have a family member hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU), and the used approach was the phenomenological one in the modality of the situated phenomenon. Ten family members of patients hospitalized in the ICU of a private hospital in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, were interviewed from March to July of 2006. Five thematic categories emerged from the analysis, which constituted the elements of the lived experience: Fear of the patient's death; Absence of humanization; Social isolation; Trust in the ICU and Overloading of personal life With the phenomenon revealed, it was possible to subsidize the construction of a humanized approach that looks on the patient's family.
Comassetto
Isabel
I
Departamento de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brasil. icomassetto@yahoo.com.br
Enders
Bertha Cruz
BC
D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003422:Critical Care / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012934:Social Isolation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology