Doing time in an Australian ICU; the experience and environment from the perspective of patients and family members.

Tronstad, O., Flaws, D., Lye, I., Fraser, J. F., & Patterson, S. (2021). Doing time in an Australian ICU; the experience and environment from the perspective of patients and family members. Australian critical care : official journal of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses, 34(3), 254–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2020.06.006

Background: The intensive care environment and experiences during admission can negatively impact patient and family outcomes and can complicate recovery both in hospital and after discharge. While their perspectives based on intimate experiences of the environment could help inform design improvements, patients and their families are typically not involved in design processes. Rather than designing the environment around the needs of the patients, emphasis has traditionally been placed on clinical and economic efficiencies.

Objective: The main objective was to inform design of an optimised intensive care bedspace by developing an understanding of how patients and their families experience the intensive care environment and its impact on recovery.