Social support in critically ill adults: a replication

This study was designed to increase understanding of social support from the viewpoint of the critically ill adults. The authors investigated what the critically ill adults described as supportive behaviors, as well as the source of those behaviors. Open-ended interviews with 10 patients yielded rich data, which are presented in the article as cases illustrating the extremes of emotional support from physicians, nurses, hospital staff, family, and friends. The themes derived from the data stress the positive feelings of the participants when they believe they are being supported and the negative feelings when the patients believe they are not supported.