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Introduction: Holistic care of a critical patient should include approaching her/his family, as they are living specific needs caused by this critical situation. One of them is the information need. This study sets the elements that a nurse should take into account to effectively approach those information needs. Methods: It is a unifying review of the scientific production on this topic between 2007 and 2016. Twenty-three articles were included due to their contribution to understand the elements required to approach the needs described herein. Results: Six categories were defined to denote the elements for the nursing approach: information characteristics; assessment and identification of the information needs; essential skills in a nurse for approaching the information needs; family participation in the care so as to satisfy their information needs; conditions to approach the information needs; and type of information. Conclusions: These elements will make easier for a nurse to approach the family and will contribute to fulfil their information needs, to improve their quality of life, and enhance the quality standards in the health care. In addition, it contributes to the educative formation of health professionals thanks to the items based on the scientific evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]