Importance of Bedside Rounds for Alleviating Family Stress and Anxiety in Critical Care Setting

Importance of consistent and accurate bedside rounds for family satisfaction

Based on the main findings of this study, we suggest that the bedside rounds process, when conducted daily at a consistent time and with accurate information sharing, may help alleviate some of the family stress and anxiety, may help inform decision-making, may assist the family members and care team to set mutually agreeable goals, and may be help prepare families for the future, including discharge planning and home care management. However, when rounds were held inconsistently or when inconsistent information was shared with family members, mistrust and anxiety of the entire team developed. The critical care community over the past several years has been urging shared decision-making among patients, families, and health care team members.

The goal of shared decision-making is to make decisions consistent with the patient’s wishes.3,14 To be involved in shared decision-making, families should be informed of the short- and long-term plans of care. Setting expectations and preparing for the future was a major factor that influenced how well making a connection occurred. When expectations were shared among the health care team, the patient, and family, families felt better prepared for what was going to happen in the short andthe long term.

The theme of making a connection has not been described in previous studies, to our knowledge, although the contributing factors of consistency of information and preparing families for the future have been described as important components of patient satisfaction,15 trust in the care team,5 and shared decisionmaking.16 Consistency of information has been well described in previous studies as being important to family members dealing with the illness of a loved one in an ICU setting.The participants of this study identified the consistency of the information being received, consistency of when rounds were occurring, and the consistency of being informed of delays as communication factors. Consistency (or lack thereof ) contributed significantly to family members’ experiences, either positively or negatively.

The care team must be accountable for sharing a schedule of bedside rounds and try very hard to stick to the schedule. When emergencies arise and the team is not able to meet, the family should be informed of any changes to the meeting schedule.

The findings of study confirmed that it is important for family members to receive a clear, understandable message about the plan of care, time frame, and goals of care. When ICU bedside rounds are carried out consistently, family members feel a connection has been made with the health care team.

To increase family awareness about rounds, an informational flier should be developed and given to family members upon their loved one’s admission to the ICU.

This simple intervention has been recommended to improve communication and decrease stress.

In addition to the flyer, part of the standard orientation checklist done by all registered nurses on staff when a patient is first admitted to the ICU should include information about bedside rounds, in addition to posted signs about the practice. This will ensure families are receiving verbal and written information about rounds. Education of the health care team should include the importance of bedside rounds and how to conduct them effectively. Eye contact, active listening, nonjudgmental statements, and easy-to-understand language all should be used.

What, if any, was the theoretical framework that was used by article author(s)?

Describe the framework; was it from nursing or a borrowed theory?

Describe how the framework was used to inform the research study.

How much did the researchers write about it in the journal article?

For example, was it weaved throughout the paper or mentioned only in the beginning?

In your opinion, what other nursing theory might have worked with this research study?

Why? APA requires graduate program or higher articles