NEEDS OF THE FAMILY OF A PATIENT ADMITTED TO AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Introduction: The admission of a person to an intensive care unit (ICU) is a stressful situation for both the patient and family members. During this time the family feels uncertainty, doubt, anxiety, fatigue and fear. Identifying the needs of families in this situation can help prevent or minimize these feelings. Objective: To explore the evidence on the needs of the family of patients admitted to an intensive care unit. Clinical case: We present the case of a patient admitted to the Intensive Care Unit after suffering respiratory failure. His condition is compromised during ICU admission, which affects and increases the suffering of the family. Methodology: For the review of the literature, a bibliographic search was carried out in the PubMed database. In addition, manual searches were performed in the following journals: Cuidados Intensivos and Anales del Sistema Sanitario de Navarra. Development: A comparison is made between the case presented for the work and the needs of the relatives of patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit found in the articles. They have been divided into four general needs: cognitive needs, emotional needs, social needs and practical needs. Conclusions: Detecting by Nursing the needs of families of patients admitted to an intensive care unit will help to better cope with the situation in which they find themselves. Key words: family, intensive care unit, critical care unit, needs, nursing.