The Ventilated Patient's Experience.

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Patient Experience
• Mechanical Ventilation

Background:

• Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) frequently experience pain, anxiety, and distress during mechanical ventilation.
• Patient recall of these events varies significantly, from minimal to total.
• Limited research exists on family members' memories and their alignment with patient reports and nurse observations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the experience of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in the ICU.
• To explore patient and family memories of pain, anxiety, distress, and dyspnea.
• To assess correlations between nurse pain assessments and patient/family pain reports, and evaluate patient/family satisfaction with care.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study design was employed.
• Interviews were conducted with 84 ICU patients and 77 family members.
• Medical records were abstracted for demographics, medications, and nurse pain/sedation assessments.

Main Results:

• Most patients and family members reported memories of pain, anxiety, nightmares, distress, and breathing difficulties.
• Patients' anxiety, nightmares, and dyspnea perceptions correlated moderately with pain perception.
• Family pain memories correlated with nurse ratings, but patient pain memories did not; however, both groups reported high satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Further research into the patient experience with mechanical ventilation is needed.
• Implementing ventilation sedation management protocols is recommended.
• Evaluating communication tools like bedside reporting and patient communication boards is warranted.