Interacting with relatives in intensive care unit. Nurses' perceptions of a challenging task.
OBJECTIVE
To describe how Danish intensive care unit (ICU)-nurses perceive personal knowledge and skills (self-efficacy) and outcome expectations to interacting with relatives. Moreover, to explore relationships between self-efficacy and outcome expectations and the nurses' attitude towards involving relatives in care-related tasks and allowing relatives to be with the patient during critical situations.


BACKGROUND
Interacting with relatives can be a challenging task, and nurses play a leading role in integrating relatives in ICU. Little is known about how ICU-nurses cope with this part of nursing


METHODS
Cross-sectional


METHODS
Sixty-eight ICU-nurses responded to a self-administered questionnaire based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory adjusted to critical care.


RESULTS
The nurses' perceptions of personal knowledge, skills and expectations to the outcome of interacting with relatives were positive. There were disparities in nurses' level of agreement on when to involve relatives in caring activities. Generally, the nurses did not support the presence of relatives in critical situations. Nurses' outcome expectations were correlated to their attitude towards involving relatives in caring activities. No other statistically significant correlations were found between general attitude, knowledge, skills, and attitude of nurses towards involving relatives in caring activities or allowing them to be with the patient at cardiac arrest or acute intubation.


CONCLUSIONS
The nurses' outcome expectations and self-efficacy in terms of knowledge and skills interacting with relatives were high. There was considerable variation in the nurses' agreement on when to involve relatives in caring activities or allowing them to be with the patient in critical situations. The self-efficacy theory was not supported as a result of lack of correlation between nurses' self-efficacy and outcome expectations and their attitude towards involving relatives in ICU.


CONCLUSIONS
The study provides important knowledge to clinicians, educators and managers on how to educate and supervise ICU-nurses to support their efforts to interact proficiently with relatives.
Agård
Anne Sophie
AS
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby, 8200 Arhus N, Denmark. anne.agard@reher-langberg.dk
Maindal
Helle Terkildsen
HT
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark; D004645:Empathy; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014789:Visitors to Patients / Q000523:psychology*