Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
ICU Nurses' Perceptions of Family-Inclusive Outdoor Excursions: Enhancing Family Engagement and Humanisation in
1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Nagoya City University West Medical Center, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
Background:
Patients hospitalised in an intensive care unit (ICU) are vulnerable to dehumanisation. To address this issue, our hospital introduced out-of-ICU activities, including outdoor garden visits with family members.
Aim:
To explore ICU nurses' perceptions of family-inclusive outdoor excursions for ICU patients regarding the excursions' impacts on patients, their family members, nurses and humanisation in intensive care.
Study Design:
The data collected from each interview were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach with inductive coding to identify codes, subcategories, categories, and themes.
Findings:
The analysis yielded 29 subcategories, 10 categories and 3 themes. The first theme was the excursion program's impacts on patients and families, including five categories: enhanced physical and psychological functions and overall recovery, exposure to pleasant and stimulating experiences, increased patient motivation, comfort and emotional relief for both patients and families and facilitation of active family engagement. The second theme was the excursion program's impacts on nurses, including three categories: recognition of the value of the outdoor excursions, expanded assessment of patients and families facilitated by outdoor excursions and appreciation for multi-professional collaboration. The third theme was the excursion program's impacts on human connections, including two categories: facilitation of meaningful communication and promotion of humanisation in intensive care.
Conclusions:
ICU nurses perceived that family-inclusive outdoor excursions supported patients' recovery, facilitated family engagement, reinforced the recognition of patients as individuals rather than solely as clinical cases and advanced the humanisation of intensive care.
Relevance To Clinical Practice:
Family-inclusive outdoor excursions provide multifaceted benefits for patients, families and healthcare providers. These activities enhance patients' experiences of humane care, enable families to participate as active partners in care and strengthen interpersonal connections among patients, families and healthcare teams. Nurses consider multi-professional collaboration to be very important for safe and effective excursions.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:29Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities
01:19Restorative Care
01:27Nursing Clinical Information System
A Nursing Clinical Information System (NCIS) is a specialized type of healthcare information system tailored to meet the unique needs of nursing practice. It incorporates the principles of nursing informatics to streamline information management and improve the quality of care delivery.
Critical attributes of NCIS include:
01:13Patient-centered Care