Optimizing the human experience: nursing the families of people who die in intensive care

This paper describes a study of the experiences of seven nurses working with the families of people who die in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A phenomenological approach is taken, which is informed by Heidegger and hermeneutics. Van Manen's methodological suggestions are used to shape and focus the study. The findings reveal that ICU nurses recognize this as a particularly difficult and tragic time in people's lives. Nurses are aware that the last hours or days with a dying relative may be vividly remembered for years to come. During this time nurses seek to optimize the human experience of the family by making the time as positive as, or the best, possible. This is achieved through strategies such as Being there, Supporting, Sharing, Involving, Interpreting and Advocating. These strategies are enabled by three domains: Nurse as Person, Nurse as Practitioner and Nurse as Colleague which describe a wider context to working effectively with families rather than merely looking at direct interactions between nurse and family. Optimizing the human experience is proposed as the central essence or phenomenon of nursing the families of people who die in intensive care.