The lived experiences of family members of Covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care unit: A phenomenological study

Davide Bartoli; Francesca Trotta; Silvio Simeone; Gianluca Pucciarelli; Giovanni Battista Orsi; Oriana Acampora; Marco Di Muzio; Carmen Cappitella; Monica Rocco

doi:10.1016/j.hrtlng.2021.08.002

The lived experiences of family members of Covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care unit: A phenomenological study

Heart Lung. 2021 Nov-Dec;50(6):926-932. doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2021.08.002. Epub 2021 Aug 7.

Authors

Davide Bartoli¹, Francesca Trotta², Silvio Simeone³, Gianluca Pucciarelli³, Giovanni Battista Orsi⁴, Oriana Acampora⁵, Marco Di Muzio⁶, Carmen Cappitella⁷, Monica Rocco⁸

Affiliations

¹ Unit of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy; Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy; Department of Medicine and Psycology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
² Unit of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Medicine and Psycology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
⁶ Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Via di Grottarossa 1035 - 00189 Rome, Italy.
⁷ Department of Management, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
⁸ Department of Clinical and Surgical Translational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Introduction: The family members of a patient admitted to a COVID Intensive Care Unit (COVID-ICU) could not communicate with and stay close to their loved one, which resulted in them becoming dependent on hospital staff for remote updates.

Objective: To describe the lived experiences of families with a member admitted to a COVID-ICU.

Methods: A phenomenological study was conducted. The subjects were interviewed with open-ended questions to allow them full freedom of expression. The researchers involved in the analysis immersed themselves in the data, independently reading and rereading the transcripts to gain a sense of the entire dataset.

Results: Fourteen first-degree family members were recruited. Five main themes emerged: fear, detachment, life on standby, family-related loneliness in the COVID-ICU, and an unexpected event.

Conclusions: Knowing the experience of families who have a relative in the COVID-ICU is essential for recognizing and reducing the risk of developing symptoms of post-intensive care syndrome.

Keywords: COVID-19; Detachment; Experience; Family care; Intensive care unit.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Critical Illness
Family*
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Professional-Family Relations

Supplementary concepts

postintensive care syndrome