Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A nurse-led intensive care after-care programme - development, experiences and preliminary evaluation.

Samuelson, Karin LU and Corrigan, Ingrid (2009) In Nursing in critical care 14(5). p.254-263
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The benefits of critical care follow-up services include increased understanding of the long-term consequences of intensive care and entail helping patients and their next of kin to come to terms with their problems and distress following critical illness and intensive care treatment. AIMS: To establish an intensive care after-care programme and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the follow-up service from the patients' and relatives' perspectives in a general intensive care unit (ICU) in Sweden. DESIGN: A descriptive and evaluative design was used, and data from the first year of the after-care programme were collected. The final programme was nurse led and included five main points; a patient diary with colour... (More)
BACKGROUND: The benefits of critical care follow-up services include increased understanding of the long-term consequences of intensive care and entail helping patients and their next of kin to come to terms with their problems and distress following critical illness and intensive care treatment. AIMS: To establish an intensive care after-care programme and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the follow-up service from the patients' and relatives' perspectives in a general intensive care unit (ICU) in Sweden. DESIGN: A descriptive and evaluative design was used, and data from the first year of the after-care programme were collected. The final programme was nurse led and included five main points; a patient diary with colour photographs, ward visits, a patient information pamphlet, a follow-up consultation 2-3 months after intensive care discharge and feedback to the ICU staff. An evaluation questionnaire was handed out to patients and next of kin attending the follow-up clinic, e.g. asking the respondents to rate their satisfaction of the consultation on a visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: The first year of after-care statistics showed that 170 survivors with a stay of 48 h or more were discharged from the ICU, resulting in 190 ward visits and 79 follow-up consultations. The preliminary evaluation revealed that the 2-month follow-up consultation achieved a median VAS rating of 9.8 (ranging from 1 to 10, poor to excellent) from both patients and next of kin. CONCLUSION: The development and preliminary evaluation of this nurse-led intensive care programme resulted in a feasible programme, requiring modest resources, with a high level of patient and relative satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This paper attempts to share with professional colleagues important steps during the developmental process of establishing an intensive care follow-up service and presents the content and preliminary evaluation of a nurse-led intensive care after-care programme focusing on the patients' and relatives' perspectives. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nursing in critical care
volume
14
issue
5
pages
254 - 263
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000207997400006
  • pmid:19706076
  • scopus:79954590523
  • pmid:19706076
ISSN
1478-5153
DOI
10.1111/j.1478-5153.2009.00336.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Division of Nursing (Closed 2012) (013065000)
id
f238c912-1829-4943-8e90-79cc587958d8 (old id 1469373)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19706076?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 07:27:04
date last changed
2022-04-23 08:18:27
@article{f238c912-1829-4943-8e90-79cc587958d8,
  abstract     = {{BACKGROUND: The benefits of critical care follow-up services include increased understanding of the long-term consequences of intensive care and entail helping patients and their next of kin to come to terms with their problems and distress following critical illness and intensive care treatment. AIMS: To establish an intensive care after-care programme and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the follow-up service from the patients' and relatives' perspectives in a general intensive care unit (ICU) in Sweden. DESIGN: A descriptive and evaluative design was used, and data from the first year of the after-care programme were collected. The final programme was nurse led and included five main points; a patient diary with colour photographs, ward visits, a patient information pamphlet, a follow-up consultation 2-3 months after intensive care discharge and feedback to the ICU staff. An evaluation questionnaire was handed out to patients and next of kin attending the follow-up clinic, e.g. asking the respondents to rate their satisfaction of the consultation on a visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: The first year of after-care statistics showed that 170 survivors with a stay of 48 h or more were discharged from the ICU, resulting in 190 ward visits and 79 follow-up consultations. The preliminary evaluation revealed that the 2-month follow-up consultation achieved a median VAS rating of 9.8 (ranging from 1 to 10, poor to excellent) from both patients and next of kin. CONCLUSION: The development and preliminary evaluation of this nurse-led intensive care programme resulted in a feasible programme, requiring modest resources, with a high level of patient and relative satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This paper attempts to share with professional colleagues important steps during the developmental process of establishing an intensive care follow-up service and presents the content and preliminary evaluation of a nurse-led intensive care after-care programme focusing on the patients' and relatives' perspectives.}},
  author       = {{Samuelson, Karin and Corrigan, Ingrid}},
  issn         = {{1478-5153}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{254--263}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Nursing in critical care}},
  title        = {{A nurse-led intensive care after-care programme - development, experiences and preliminary evaluation.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-5153.2009.00336.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1478-5153.2009.00336.x}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}