Lived experience of patients being cared for in ICUs in Southern Thailand

Technologies in ICUs are increasingly saving human lives. The challenge for nursing in ICUs is to use technologies competently in order to know patients more fully within the harmonized view of technology, nursing and human care.

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of the experiences of patients who were dependent on technologies while being cared for in ICUs.

A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to describe the experiences of 10 participants who were discharged from adult ICU units in Southern Thailand. Lincoln and Guba's criteria for trustworthiness was used to establish the rigour of the study.

Four thematic categories structured the meaning of the participants' experiences: Living suffering; Harmonizing living; Being in trust and security; and Transitioning to a better life. These thematic categories were reflective of the four lived worlds of corporeality, relationality, spatiality and temporality.

The description of being cared for was based on the narratives of patients who were discharged from ICUs in Southern Thailand. In conclusion, the lived experience of being cared for with technologies in ICU was described as living suffering within trust and security, and harmonizing living while transitioning to a better life.

The findings of the study could be used to design innovative nursing strategies and interventions to enhance understanding of human health and well-being while maintaining and advancing competencies in the use of technologies for human care.