Author(s)

Suhair H. Al Ghabeesh¹, Hana Abu-Snieneh², Luay Abu-Shahror¹, Firas Abu-Sneineh³, Mohammad Alhawamdeh⁴

¹Faculty of Nursing, Al-Zaytoonah University, Amman, Jordan.
²Faculty of Nursing, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
³College of Nursing, University of Dammam, Dammam, KSA.
⁴Critical Care Department, Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz Hospital, Alryad, KSA.

The aim of this study was to explore the self-perceived needs for adult family members having critically ill patient, measure to how extent the needs are met and identify who meet the needs. The study took place in critical care units of the largest governmental hospital in Jordan. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. The Arabic translation of Critical Care Family Need Inventory was used to investigate the needs of convenient samples of 60 adult family members having critically ill patients. Findings revealed that 16 out of 45 need items on the CCFNI were rated as very important in >90% of the sample. The participants ranked need for assurance, information and proximity as the highest; need for support and comfort as the lowest. Families in this study viewed nurses as the most important source to meet their needs. A holistic approach of nursing management requires that nurses assess family needs using valid and reliable tools and develop intervention strategies to meet the identified needs.

Family Needs, Critical Care Family Need Inventory (CCFNI), Critical Ill Patients

Ghabeesh, S. , Abu-Snieneh, H. , Abu-Shahror, L. , Abu-Sneineh, F. and Alhawamdeh, M. (2014) Exploring the Self-Perceived Needs for Family Members Having Adult Critically Ill Loved Person: Descriptive Study. Health, 6, 3005-3012. doi: 10.4236/health.2014.621338.