WHAT IS THE ROLE OF PATIENT FAMILIES? AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN A MEDICAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

摘要

Patient safety and quality efforts recently began to emphasize patient and family engagement in medicalrndecision making. With measures primarily focused on satisfaction, challenges exist around understanding thernimpact of engagement on patient outcomes. Research is needed to understand the role of patient/family in safetyrnand quality across clinical environments. The current exploratory study uses observations, ad hoc interviews,rnand questionnaires to capture the perspective of clinicians and staff on a Medical Intensive Care Unit regardingrnpresence and engagement of families in patient care. Findings suggest that reported roles go beyond emotionalrnsupport and further investigation is needed to explore the role of families in patient care from the safety andrnquality perspective.