title: Benefit of using a "bundled" consent for intensive care unit procedures as part of an early family meeting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Relatives of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are often dissatisfied with family-physician communication. Our prospective preintervention and postintervention study tested the hypothesis that introducing this informed consent process would improve family satisfaction with the ICU process of care.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a consent form that included an introductory explanation of the main ICU interventions and a description of 8 common procedures in a surgical ICU. We administered it early in the ICU course during a scheduled family meeting. The study was a prospective preintervention and postintervention design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The "Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit" (FS-ICU) score was higher in the intervention than in the control group (95.4±4 vs 78.2±22, P<.001). The nursing perception of satisfaction with care was also higher in the intervention group (95.8±13 vs 71.9±28, P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A bundled informed consent resulted in higher family satisfaction with the process of care in ICU.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. Electronic address: adhillon@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Anahat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dhillon
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tardini
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bittner
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Rae
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Allain
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bigatello
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003422:Critical Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064648:Critical Care Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Critical care; Decision making; Patient satisfaction; Patient-centered care; Quality improvement