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Aim To describe patients' experiences of a follow-up visit to an intensive care unit (ICU) after being critically ill and nursed there. Background Knowledge about the follow-up visit needs to be developed, with the previously critically ill patient in focus. Design Qualitative descriptive. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine patients and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The data collection occurred during spring 2014. Findings During the follow-up visits in ICU, the relatives, the patient diary, and those who took part in the care contribute to fill memory gaps to create a picture and an explanation of the care period. Conclusion The follow-up visit is an important tool in the patients' struggle to create a context and coherence from a missing or unreal time. The patient diary is essential to subsequently be able to relate to the period of care. Relevance to clinical practice The follow-up visit, together with a personal diary, after an ICU stay could be seen as significant for strengthening the patients' feeling of coherence and better health.

Background Intensive care of children means not only caring for a child; it means care for the whole family. Aim The aim of the study was to describe parents' experiences of having a critically ill child in an intensive care unit (ICU). Participants A purposive sample of seven parents who had their child treated in an ICU during 2012 in Sweden. Design The design uses an inductive, qualitative approach with data collected by means of qualitative interviews. Methods The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to qualitative content analysis. Results The analysis resulted in one theme: the desire of parents to be involved and present, with four categories such as wanting to understand and know what is happening, feeling frustration about their child's care and treatment, a health care environment that arouses emotions, and needs for support and processing. Conclusion It is of great importance to parents to be informed continuously about their child's condition and the care and treatment that are planned. This may increase parents' sense of ownership, control and security. Relevance to clinical practice Providing answers to those questions that can be answered and being available to parents when they have questions about their critically ill child, the meaning of it all, and what the future will hold are suggested in clinical practice.

Background Intensive care is conducted in intensive care units (ICUs), and also during the transportation of critically ill people. Aim The aim of the study was to describe critical care nurses' (CCNs) experiences of nursing critically ill patients during helicopter transport. Participants Seven CCNs, five women and two men participated in this study. Design Seven participants from two centres in Sweden were recruited. The design uses an inductive, qualitative approach with data collected by means of qualitative interviews with seven CCNs. Methods The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to qualitative thematic content analysis. Results The analysis resulted in one theme which is safe nursing care, but sometimes feeling afraid and six categories as follows: experiencing the care environment as an ICU with limited space; a loud environment complicates communication; planning and checking to minimize risks; experience and good co-operation; facing the dilemma of allowing relatives to accompany the patient or not; feeling the patient's and their own fear. Conclusion CCNs plan for the transportation and control of patients to improve patient safety, but can sometimes feel afraid. Good co-operation is necessary. Relevance to clinical practice The possibilities for CCNs to provide effective nursing care in helicopters are good, although in some cases limited by the environmental conditions.

Background: Providing nursing care for a critically ill obstetric patient or a patient who has just become a mother after a complicated birth can be a challenging experience for critical care nurses (CCNs). These patients have special needs because of the significant alterations in their physiology and anatomy together with the need to consider such specifics as breastfeeding and mother-child bonding. Aim: The aim with this study was to describe CCNs’ experience of nursing the new mother and her family after a complicated childbirth. Method: The design of the study was qualitative. Data collection was carried out through focus group discussions with 13 CCNs in three focus groups during spring 2012. The data were subjected to qualitative content analysis. Findings: The analysis resulted in the formulation of four categories: the mother and her vital functions are prioritized; not being responsible for the child and the father; an environment unsuited to the new family and collaboration with staff in neonatal and maternity delivery wards. Conclusion and relevance to clinical practice: When nursing a mother after a complicated birth the CCNs give her and her vital signs high priority. The fathers of the children or partners of the mothers are expected to take on the responsibility of caring for the newborn child and of being the link with the neonatal ward. It is suggested that education about the needs of new families for nursing care would improve the situation and have clinical implications. Whether the intensive care unit is always the best place in which to provide care for mothers and new families is debatable.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe peoples’ experiences of a personal diary written when they were critically ill and receiving care in an intensive care unit (ICU). Background: In some ICUs, diaries are written by the ICU staff and close relatives of those who are critically ill and mechanically ventilated, but there is a lack of studies that focus on the experiences of the formerly critically ill of personal diaries written when in an ICU. Methods: Qualitative personal interviews were conducted with nine people who were formerly critically ill. The interview texts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings: From the analysis of the data, one theme emerged – touching a tender wound, with four categories: being afraid and being deeply touched, appreciating close relatives’ notes, a feeling of unreality and gaining coherence. The participants were deeply touched when they read the diary for the first time. Parts of it were experienced as unreal, as if they were reading about someone else. The diary provided necessary knowledge about what had happened during the time when the participants were critically ill and from which they had only fragmented or no memories at all. Even though it aroused strong feelings, reading the diary was experienced as an important support for a long time after their stay in the ICU. Experiencing that one was not fully aware of what had happened and then reading about oneself being critically ill and about one’s close relatives’ experiences was interpreted as touching a tender wound. Conclusions and relevance to clinical practice: It is suggested that a diary may be a tool that can help formerly critically ill people to gain a sense of coherence concerning their critical illness experience, but reading it can be painful and demanding.

To describe patients' experiences of a follow-up visit to an intensive care unit (ICU) after being critically ill and nursed there.Knowledge about the follow-up visit needs to be developed, with the previously critically ill patient in focus.Qualitative descriptive.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine patients and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The data collection occurred during spring 2014.During the follow-up visits in ICU, the relatives, the patient diary, and those who took part in the care contribute to fill memory gaps to create a picture and an explanation of the care period.The follow-up visit is an important tool in the patients' struggle to create a context and coherence from a missing or unreal time. The patient diary is essential to subsequently be able to relate to the period of care.The follow-up visit, together with a personal diary, after an ICU stay could be seen as significant for strengthening the patients' feeling of coherence and better health.

Intensive care of children means not only caring for a child; it means care for the whole family.The aim of the study was to describe parents' experiences of having a critically ill child in an intensive care unit (ICU).A purposive sample of seven parents who had their child treated in an ICU during 2012 in Sweden.The design uses an inductive, qualitative approach with data collected by means of qualitative interviews.The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to qualitative content analysis.The analysis resulted in one theme: the desire of parents to be involved and present, with four categories such as wanting to understand and know what is happening, feeling frustration about their child's care and treatment, a health care environment that arouses emotions, and needs for support and processing.It is of great importance to parents to be informed continuously about their child's condition and the care and treatment that are planned. This may increase parents' sense of ownership, control and security.Providing answers to those questions that can be answered and being available to parents when they have questions about their critically ill child, the meaning of it all, and what the future will hold are suggested in clinical practice.

Intensive care is conducted in intensive care units (ICUs), and also during the transportation of critically ill people.The aim of the study was to describe critical care nurses' (CCNs) experiences of nursing critically ill patients during helicopter transport.Seven CCNs, five women and two men participated in this study.Seven participants from two centres in Sweden were recruited. The design uses an inductive, qualitative approach with data collected by means of qualitative interviews with seven CCNs.The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to qualitative thematic content analysis.The analysis resulted in one theme which is safe nursing care, but sometimes feeling afraid and six categories as follows: experiencing the care environment as an ICU with limited space; a loud environment complicates communication; planning and checking to minimize risks; experience and good co-operation; facing the dilemma of allowing relatives to accompany the patient or not; feeling the patient's and their own fear.CCNs plan for the transportation and control of patients to improve patient safety, but can sometimes feel afraid. Good co-operation is necessary.The possibilities for CCNs to provide effective nursing care in helicopters are good, although in some cases limited by the environmental conditions.

Background: To be cared for in an intensive care unit (ICU) after a complicated childbirth is often an unplanned and transforming experience, and there is lack of studies describing mothers' experiences of this phenomenon. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of becoming a mother after a complicated delivery and a stay in an ICU. Methods: Qualitative personal interviews were conducted with eight mothers. The interview texts were subjected to qualitative thematic content analysis. Findings: The analysis resulted in one theme; wishing to be in control and together as a family, and six categories; being or not being prepared, feeling afraid, not being as ill as the others, knowing about the baby, worrying about the father and having someone to talk to. The findings highlight the need to receive continual information about what is happening, especially with the baby, and the need to be together as a family. Conclusion and relevance to clinical practice: The mothers need support and encouragement from the staff throughout their hospital stay, and sometimes afterwards. There is a need to receive information, especially about the baby, and to have one's family close by, when in an ICU despite illness severity. How the new family is met by the staff is of great importance.

the aim of this pilot study was to describe family members' satisfaction with the care provided in a Swedish intensive care unit (ICU) based on the following needs: assurance, information, proximity, support, and comfort, which are all included in the Critical Care Family Satisfaction Survey (CCFSS).knowledge concerning satisfaction with care among family members with a critically ill relative in an ICU is important if the family is to be met professionally.the study design was descriptive and retrospective, with a consecutive selection of family members of critically ill people cared for in an ICU. In total 35 family members participated.quantitative analyses based on 20 questions, and a qualitative analysis, based on two open questions was used. The median, average value and percent were computed for every question. The open questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.the family members had a high level of satisfaction regarding all groups of needs. They were especially satisfied with flexible visiting hours and the high quality of treatment that the ill person received. The shortcomings that emerged were that family members wanted the physician to be more available for regular talks, the room for relatives was felt to be uncomfortable; and it was felt there were deficiencies in the preparations before the patient's transferral to a ward.the results highlight the family members' need for regular information and the need to improve the environment in the waiting rooms for family members. The ICU staff's competence and their way of encountering the ill person and their family seem to be important for family members' satisfaction with the care.