Enhancing family experience in the paediatric intensive care unit through the adoption of the family care journal: A single-center study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary patient care rounds are increasingly seen as a vital complement to patient care management. Family engagement in these rounds, especially in the paediatric population, is important to treatment and outcomes, but there is little information about family experience in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). AIMS: To develop a process using family care journals (FCJ) to systematically evaluate family experience in the PICU and identify needed supportive resources that will enhance their critical care stay. STUDY DESIGN: This is a single-centre quasi-experimental design conducted at a large urban quaternary level freestanding children's hospital. A family care journal (FCJ) was distributed to families upon admission to PICU to serve as a resource tool during their stay. An electronic point of care (POC) questionnaire was used to assess families' experiences in the PICU. RESULTS: Three hundred sixty-six questionnaires were completed (100% response rate) and analysed. Overall, there was an improvement in all phases post FCJ implementation compared with the baseline. Seventy five percent of families found it a useful tool for communication with the PICU team. Open-ended comments revealed improvement opportunities related to communication, environment, and delay in care. Almost all commented on excellent nursing care. CONCLUSIONS: Introducing FCJ in a paediatric ICU is a practical approach, providing a cost-effective method to assess family experiences and gain insights for ongoing quality improvement efforts. Collaboration among all care team members, including nursing, medical, and administrative leaders, is crucial for empathetically addressing parental needs during hospitalization. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Combining the use of journals and questionnaires provides the clinical team with an efficient means of collecting valuable feedback from parents regarding their experience in the PICU and the factors that foster ongoing commitment from families. Nurses play a crucial role in encouraging the adoption of these journals, as they promote greater parent involvement in their children's care.