• Valentina Di Bernardo, Nicola Grignoli, Chantal Marazia, Jennifer Andreotti, Andreas Perren, and Roberto Malacrida.
• Intensive Care Unit, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano, Switzerland; Sasso Corbaro Medical Humanities Foundation, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
• J Crit Care. 2015 Oct 1; 30 (5): 866-70.

PurposeOpening intensive care units (ICUs) is particularly relevant because of a new Swiss law granting the relatives of patients without decision-making capability a central role in medical decisions. The main objectives of the study were to assess how the presence of relatives is viewed by patients, health care providers, and relatives themselves and to evaluate the perception of the level of intrusiveness into the personal sphere during admission.Material And MethodsIn a longitudinal and prospective design, qualitative questionnaires were submitted concomitantly to patients, relatives, and health care providers consecutively over a 6-month period. The study was conducted in the 4 ICUs of the public hospitals of Canton Ticino (Switzerland).ResultsThe questionnaires collected from patients, relatives, and health care providers were 176, 173, and 134, respectively. The analysis of the answers of 120 patient-relative pairs showed consistent results (P < .0001), whereas those of health care providers were significantly different (P < .0001), regarding both the usefulness of opening ICUs to patient relatives and what was stressful during admission.ConclusionsRelatives in these "open" ICUs share a great deal of intimacy with the patients. Their presence and the deriving benefits were seen as very positive by patients and relatives themselves. Skepticism, instead, prevailed among health care providers.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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