Heart & lung : the journal of critical care
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To describe the experiences of families with a relative in the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ Families experience a sense of uncertainty that is eventually resolved by seeking information and resources. Health care professionals can minimize the stress associated with hospitalization of relatives in the ICU by anticipating and addressing the family's needs for information and resources.
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To describe the process of family decision making about life support in the critical care setting. ⋯ Little is known about the actual experience of family members as they are involved in life-support decision making. Identification of the needs of family members to work through the decision-making experience cognitively, emotionally, and morally is essential to communicating effectively about the ill relative's condition and to providing understanding and support to families involved in life-support decision making in the critical care unit.
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To determine the incidence and the effect of intraoperative and discharge variables on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms after cardiac surgery during hospitalization and 2 and 6 weeks after discharge. ⋯ The incidence of GI symptoms after cardiac surgery is significant, but their etiology has yet to be determined.