The role of intensive care unit diaries in the grieving process: A monocentric qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The growing importance of psychological recovery for patients and their families following intensive care unit (ICU) experiences in recent years cannot be overemphasized. The ICU diary is used to aid patients in reducing the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. The usefulness of maintaining a diary during the grieving process has not yet been thoroughly investigated. AIM: To investigate the role of ICU diaries in the grief process experienced by family members of a person who died in the intensive care unit. STUDY DESIGN: Nine family members of seven deceased ICU patients with an ICU diary were contacted and interviewed by phone using a semi-structured interview. A qualitative data analysis was performed using thematic synthesis. SETTING: Italian general intensive care unit. FINDINGS: Interviewed family members felt that the diary helped them during the grieving process. The return of diaries was desired by family members for support and to remember one's loved one. The diary helped them process their losses in various ways, including signs of evidence of care, emotional involvement, consideration, and coping with grief. Four main themes emerged from the analysis: writing the diary, reading the diary, talking about the diary, and the diary during the grieving process. CONCLUSIONS: The overall perception of the ICU diary was positive. The diary mostly helped relatives to "give back something of what we lost". This study also affirms the positive link between ICU diaries and bereavement in Italian ICU. Further studies are required to confirm the usefulness of this tool in the grieving process. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The ICU diary can help patients' family members understand what happened to their loved one and play an important role in the grieving process. The diary served as a valuable source of information that aided in providing bereavement support to the family by helping them to gain a rational and emotional understanding of the patient's death.

Intensive care unit diaries to help bereaved family members in their grieving process: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Intensive care unit diaries are often used to support patients during their psychological recovery. The intensive care unit stay can be upsetting, disturbing and traumatic for both patients and their families especially when the patient does not survive. AIM: To investigate the connection between intensive care unit diaries and the grieving process experienced by family members of adult patients deceased in the intensive care unit. METHODS: Systematic literature review according to PRISMA guidelines: PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane Library were consulted. The Caldwell's framework was used for the quality appraisal. RESULTS: Only six studies examine this topic. The potential benefits of intensive care unit diaries in family members' bereavement process may be an aid to realise how extremely ill their loved one was, may provide comfort and may help relatives to cope with their loss. CONCLUSION: The use of intensive care unit diaries to help family members' bereavement process may be a useful tool but further research is necessary to better understand their role and benefits.

The Order of Draw during Blood Collection: A Systematic Literature Review.

Blood collection is one of the most common nursing procedures and is not devoid of complications. The order of draw during blood collection is a controversial theme. We aimed to define the efficacy of the order of draw during blood collection to guarantee an exact biochemical result. We carried out a systematic literature review on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, Joanna Briggs Institute, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. Articles written in English and published from 2000 to 2020 were considered suitable. The analysis of the 11 articles included highlighted different opinions; however, the most recent evidence declares that the cross-contamination caused by the incorrect order of draw is a trait only in the open system of drawing. The most recent evidence affirms the negligible effect of the order of draw during blood collection when using the closed blood collection system, while it is recommended when using the open collection system.