What is the purpose of the study?
The purpose of this article was to discover the needs of families of patients with severe
traumatic brain injury during the families’ experience in a neurosurgical ICU and this was
found in the introduction part (Bond et al., 2003).
The articles used for supporting this part of the description were mentioned in the list of CINAHL Plus journals database.
Purpose statement in a PICO format and search strategy
To restate, the study aims to identify the families that would be in great distress following the severe traumatic brain injury of one of their close relatives during neurosurgery in an ICU. Traumatic brain injury was reported to have prolonged consequences both for the patient with injury and for their family members (Jumisko, Lexell & Söderberg, 2007).
CINAHL database was accessed and the research articles were retrieved from Pubmed. The articles used for supporting this part of the description were mentioned in the list of CINAHL Plus journals database.
It was revealed in a qualitative study that most family members experience a great struggle while showing affection and care to their injured individuals. This was believed to initiate from their feeling of life and the need for mutual responsibility. (Jumisko, Lexell & Söderberg, 2007). The health care professionals should understand this situation that reflects affection and expectations from close relatives which might give the family members a good strength to withstand the psychological distress (Jumisko, Lexell & Söderberg, 2007).
Further, it was described that the main concern for family members having a severe traumatic brain injury patient is negotiation. This could be because family members need to be mentally prepared to face the consequences of the unlikely situation expected with the case. Hence, negotiation with each other, with members of the health care team, and with insurance agents, case managers, and representatives of the justice system were reported to involve as a part of family members’ experiences (Duff, 2006).
What is the focus of the study?
The main focus of the study was to determine the ways to tolerate patients’ families in order to meet their requirements. The etiology could be attributed to the unstable or crisis situation faced by the family members of patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
Further, much relies on their part to address the future consequences which may appear stressful. Regular nurses’ interaction with the family members with high priority could help in assessing the progress of the situation. Nurses in ICU may need to be compassionate to overcome the anxiety experienced by the family members. Hence the behavior of nurses could play a role as prognostic information on the current situation. In other words, it would pacify the family members’ concerns.
The treatment and prevention strategy for the family members relies on their responsibility to acquire information from the concerned hospital authorities. This could be because information exchange from the physicians and nurses with multiple job responsibilities could lead to discrepancies in understanding the situation and further contributes to stress. A dedicated health care provider would only provide reliable information that can minimize or treat the family member’s stress.
Is the study qualitative or quantitative?
This study is purely qualitative as it is largely dependent on interviewing the participants’ experiences, realities and analyzing the information patterns. In addition, this study has a limited number of participants (seven family members) rather than a huge sample size. This perfectly makes it a qualitative study.
Are research questions or hypotheses given?
There are no research questions or hypotheses given.
What are the variables/ phenomena being studied?
There were no identified variables in this study. It appears that there are no variables reported to exist in the study and there is hardly any connection with DSM criteria. The author established the importance of the study by highlighting the gravity of the situation experienced by the family members of patients with severe traumatic brain injury indicating that they are more vulnerable to anxiety and uncertainty in the future.
How does the author establish the importance of the study?
The importance was also established by identifying the specific needs of families of patients with severe traumatic brain injury, like the need to know, the need for consistent information, the need for involvement, and the need to make sense of the experience (Bond et al., 2003). This information was found in the introduction and discussion parts.
How many paragraphs were used in the literature?
There was a total of eight paragraphs used in the literature review. The topics included were care and the need for identifying the family needs, addressing the needs, structured communication program, facilitating nurses to work with families, retrospective analysis of earlier studies, comparing the needs of patient families with that of families of patients without injuries, need for qualitative information. There was no heading used in the literature review.
Is a theoretical framework used?
Yes. The study was based on a theoretical framework based on a family nursing model with special emphasis on crisis theory.
References
- Carole L. White, Nancy Mayo, James A Hanley, Sharon Wood- Dauphinee. (2003).Research in Nursing & Health, 26, 177-189.
- Mant, J., Winner, S., Roche, J., Wade, D.T. (2005). Family support for stroke: one year follow up of a randomised controlled trial. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 76, 1006-8.
- Ski, C, & Connell, O, B. (2007). Stroke: the increasing complexity of carer needs. J Neurosci Nurs, 39, 172-9.
- Jumisko, E., Lexell, J., Söderberg, S. (2007). Living with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury: the meaning of family members’ experiences. J Fam Nurs, 13,353-69.
- Duff, D. (2006). Family impact and influence following severe traumatic brain injury. Axone, 27, 9-23.
- Elaine Bond, A., Christy Rae Lee Draeger,Barbara Mandleco, Michael Donnelly. (2003). Critical Care Nurse, 23,63-71.