title: Nursing Activities Score as a predictor of family satisfaction in an adult intensive care unit in Greece.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study family satisfaction with care in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and its association with nursing workload estimated by the Nursing Activities Score (NAS).
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Few previous studies have investigated the association between workload in ICUs and family satisfaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Family Satisfaction ICU 24 (FS ICU-24) questionnaires were distributed to 161 family members (106 respondents). Questionnaires' score, NAS measurements and Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS-II) data were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean total level of family satisfaction was equal to 80.72% (± 9.59). Family members were more satisfied with the level of care compared with decision making. NAS values revealed a shortage of nurses in the morning shift. Moreover, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between NAS and total satisfaction after adjusting for age, length of stay and SAPS-II.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improvements in clinical practice require the measurement of care quality which particularly includes family satisfaction. Our results indicated that family members were less satisfied with decision making.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurse managers should plan for the successful involvement of family members in the decision-making process. Higher levels of nurse staffing might improve the care provided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Critical Care Medicine, General Hospital of Larissa, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Sotiria
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gerasimou-Angelidi
authors.forename: Pavlos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Myrianthefs
authors.forename: Achileas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chovas
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baltopoulos
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komnos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003422:Critical Care; D064648:Critical Care Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload
keywords: Intensive Care Unit; Nursing Activities Score; critical care; family satisfaction