Information booklets to patients' family and relatives. Survey of practice in a sample of 59 intensive care units, in France

The Difficult Balance between Ensuring the Right of Nursing Home Residents to Communication and Their Safety

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a profound impact on healthcare systems worldwide. The number of infections in nursing homes for the elderly particularly is significantly high, with a high mortality rate as a result. In order to contain infection risks for both residents and employees of such facilities, the Italian government passed emergency legislation during the initial stages of the pandemic to restrict outside visitor access. On 30 November 2020, the Italian President of the Council of Ministers issued a new decree recognizing the social and emotional value of visits to patients from family and friends. In addition, it indicated prevention measures for the purposes of containing the infection risk within nursing homes for the elderly. This article comments on these new legislative provisions from the medicolegal perspective, providing indications that can be used in clinical practice.

Évaluation anonyme et continue de la satisfaction des familles des patients hospitalisés en réanimation par l’outil Opinion Family

En faisant partie intégrante du processus de soins, les familles des patients hospitalisés en réanimation sont exposées à des agressions à l’origine de troubles psychologiques. Ces situations de fragilité peuvent être, au moins en partie, prévenues par une prise en charge des familles de qualité. Au même titre que la démarche qualité implique l’évaluation de la satisfaction des patients, il paraît donc indispensable de recueillir celle des familles. L’outil OpinionFamily® (OF) a été conçu en partenariat avec une société experte afin de recueillir de façon anonyme, ergonomique, objective et continue la satisfaction des familles concernant leur perception de la qualité de leur prise en charge et de celle de leur proche sur une borne tactile sécurisée disposée dans la salle d’attente. L’analyse en temps réel des réponses permet l’évaluation des pratiques et la mise en place d’actions d’amélioration. Une étude de faisabilité au sein de la réanimation médicochirurgicale de l’hôpital Tenon de mars 2017 à août 2017 a permis le recueil de la satisfaction de 146 proches, essentiellement les référents des patients. L’identification et la disponibilité des soignants, le temps d’attente avant les visites, le confort de la salle d’attente ainsi que l’information relative à l’évolution de l’état de santé des patients demeurent les principaux items nécessitant la mise en oeuvre d’actions d’amélioration. L’implémentation systématique de l’outil OF dans les salles d’attente de réanimation offrirait aux soignants la possibilité de mieux connaître les besoins des familles en fonction de l’organisation mise en place, ainsi que d’évaluer régulièrement les améliorations effectuées.

Written information that relatives of adult intensive care unit patients would like to receive--a comparison to published recommendations and opinion of staff members

OBJECTIVE

Information booklets have not been assessed by the families of intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This study explored the information that the relatives of adult ICU patients wanted to find in the information booklets.

DESIGN

Multicenter survey.

SETTING

Twenty-three French ICUs.

SUBJECTS

One close relative of each of 250 consecutive adult patients.

METHODS

Relatives were asked about the desirability of finding information on each of the 24 topics identified by ICU physicians and listed in guidelines as deserving inclusion in information booklets.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The 250 patients (61% men) had a mean age of 60 +/- 18 years and a mean Simplified Acute Physiology Score II of 48 +/- 19; 57% had chronic comorbidities and 41% were surgical patients. At least 72% of the relatives felt that booklets should discuss nosocomial infections, treatment-limitation decisions, access to medical information on the patient, access to medical records, and the meaning of medical terms. Overall, relatives wanted more information than that anticipated by ICU physicians, suggested in guidelines, or found in booklets. However, for at least one of the 24 topics, 38% of relatives indicated that fear or poor comprehension made them unwilling to receive written information. These relatives were younger and had fewer years of formal education than did the other relatives, and they were more likely to be visiting conscious unrestrained patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Opinions of relatives should be taken into account when designing ICU information booklets. Relatives want more information than that anticipated by physicians or suggested in guidelines, but the youngest or the less-educated ones may respond less favorably to written information.