Informational Needs of the Families of Patients Discharged From Intensive Care Units: A Case of Iran

Background: thousands of patients are admitted to intensive care units annually, which is a stressful event. Many of these patients still require particular care after discharge. In many countries, families play an essential role in taking care of these patients after discharge. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the informational needs of families of patients discharged from Intensive Care Units (ICU), Kerman, southeast Iran. Methods: this study had a cross-sectional design. Families were selected using the information extracted from patients' medical records. One hundred forty family members of the ICU discharged patients participated in the survey using convenience sampling. Data collection tools were a validated researcher-made questionnaire about informational needs and a demographic characteristics form. Results: the mean score of family informational needs was 31.18 ± 3.97 out of 40. Most families required a high level of information in all dimensions. However, the maximum need was associated with self-care subscale (4.89 out of 5), and the minimum need was associated with defecation (3.13 out of 5). Conclusion: the families of patients discharged from intensive care units required much information about different areas of care particularly self-care. Health care providers, especially nurses, should be aware of the informational needs of the ICU patients' families post-discharge to provide better care.