• Caroline Fritz, Laurie-Anne Claude, Sophie Hamada, Mathilde Trosdorf, Hugues de la Barre, Amélie Yavchitz, Darless Clausse, Cédric Lemogne, Anne Godier, and Cécile Flahault.
• Caroline Fritz is a physician, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Centre-Université de Paris, Service d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, France and a researcher, Université de Lorraine, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) UMRS-1116, Groupe Choc Équipe 2, Nancy, France.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2022 Jan 1; 31 (1): 77-81.

BackgroundIn intensive care units (ICUs), the quality of communication with families is a key point in the caregiver-patient-family relationship. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital visits were prohibited, and many ICUs implemented a daily telephone call strategy to ensure continuity of communication with patients' families.ObjectiveTo assess how family members and health care providers perceived this communication strategy.MethodsThe study was conducted in a 45-bed ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. Communication with families consisted of a single daily telephone call from the senior physician in charge of the patient to the patient's surrogate decision maker. Satisfaction was qualitatively assessed via an anonymous online questionnaire with open-ended questions.ResultsParticipants completed 114 questionnaires. Forty-six percent of surrogate decision makers stated that the key medical messages were understandable, but 57% of other family members expressed that the frequency of information delivery was insufficient. Fifty-six percent of the physicians described the practice as functional for the organization of the unit. Among health care providers other than physicians, 55% felt that not having to interact with families decreased their emotional load and 50% mentioned saving time and the absence of task interruptions as positive aspects.ConclusionFixed-time, daily telephone calls in the ICU allowed satisfactory transmission of information between physicians and surrogate decision makers, as perceived by both parties. However, the telephone-based communication strategy could still be improved.©2022 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

9 keywords...

hide…