title: Factors affecting experiences of intensive care patients in Turkey: patient outcomes in critical care setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the factors affecting a patient's intensive care experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  The descriptive study was conducted at an intensive care unit in the Aegean Region of Turkey, and comprised 158 patients who spent at least 48 hours at the unit between June and November 2009. A questionnaire form and the Intensive Care Experience Scale were used as data collection tools. SPSS 11.5 was used for statistical analysis of the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total, 86 (54.4%) patients related to the surgical unit, while 72 (45.5%) spent time at the intensive care unit. Most of the subjects (n=113; 71.5%) reported that they constantly experienced pain during hospitalisation. Patients receiving mechanical ventilation support and patients reporting no pain had significantly higher scores on the intensive care experience scale. Patients who reported pain remembered their experiences less than those having no pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions are needed to make the experiences of patients in intensive care more positive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, School of Nursing, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yurdanur
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Esra Akin
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Korhan
authors.forename: Ismet
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eser
authors.forename: Leyla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Khorshid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult