• Luciano Santana Cabrera, Beatriz Yañez Quintana, Juliana Martín Alonso, Fernando Ramírez Montesdeoca, Isabel Roger Marrero, and Amaya Susilla Pérez de la Blanca.
• Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España. lsancabx@gobiernodecanarias.org
• Enferm Clin. 2009 Nov 1; 19 (6): 335-9.

ObjectiveTo study nurses' perceptions of the quality of communication with the families of patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU).MethodWe performed a cross-sectional, descriptive study among nurses at the ICU of a University Hospital. An anonymous survey was conducted utilizing the modified Nurse Activities for Communicating with Families questionnaire, which measures nurse activities for communicating with patients' relatives.ResultsWe interviewed 70 nurses, representing 87.5% of the nursing staff. Forty-seven percent (n=33) sometimes spoke to the family about the patient's illness and treatment and 61% (n=43) spoke about the patient's medical equipment and treatment. Only 17% (n=12) usually asked the relatives about the information provided by the physician. Twenty percent (n=14) never spoke to relatives about their feelings. Twenty-six percent (n=18) never spoke to the family about the patient's life. Older nursing staff were more likely to ask the family about the patient's life (p=0.044). Only 48% (n=34) sometimes spoke to the family about changes in the patient's care plan, and those employed for a longer time at the unit were less likely to speak about this subject (p=0.028).ConclusionsWe found a widespread absence of nurse activities for communicating with the families of admitted patients. Older staff spoke more frequently about patient's lives and those working for longer in the unit were less likely to inform relatives about the care plan.

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