title: The experiences of patients and their families of visiting whilst in an intensive care unit--a hermeneutic interview study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to interpret and understand the meanings of the lived experiences of visiting of patients in an ICU and their families.
  
  
  METHODS
  The research design was hermeneutic, based on interviews. This study includes 12 interviews with seven patients and five relatives who had been in an ICU. The interview text was interpreted in a Gadamerian manner as different plays with actors and plots.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients' narratives could be divided into two parts; recall of real life and unreal life experiences, the unreal being more common. Relatives' narratives are described as being on stage and being backstage, i.e. in the room with the patient and outside it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The final interpretation elucidated the experience of visiting as the sudden shift between being present in real life vs. being present in the real life of unreality. It was a process whereby the patient and the family build a new understanding of life that creates a new form of interplay within the family. The pre-critical illness life is no longer there--a new life has begun. To support patients and their families in this process of change a family-centred care perspective is necessary.
authors.affiliation: CIVA/96, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden. thomas.eriksson@vgregion.se
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Ingegerd
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bergbom
authors.forename: Berit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lindahl
mesh_terms: D005190:Family; D022143:Family Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D035502:Trust; D014789:Visitors to Patients