Correlation of Post Intensive Care Syndrome-Family and Quality of Nurses’ Communication with Families of Patients Hospitalized in the Intensive Care Units of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences: A Cross-Sectional Study

Following the hospitalization of patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), their family members are exposed to a series of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual reactions named Post Intensive Care Syndrome-Family (PICS-F) which can endanger their public health and requires attention to related factors. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the correlation of PICS-F with quality of communication between nurses and families of patients hospitalized in ICUs of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences.

The current study was a cross-sectional study that was conducted in 2022 in hospitals affiliated to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. The study population consisted of 193 family members of patients hospitalized in the ICUs, who were selected through available and purposeful sampling method. The research tools included PICS-F questionnaire and Quality of Communication (QOC) questionnaire between nurses and families.

In this study, the average score of PICS-F was 74.51 ± 6.16 and 73.90 ± 18.5 for quality of communication between nurses and patients' families. The analytical results showed a significant negative correlation (P<0.05) between these two variables. This means by decreasing the quality of communication, the PICS-F will increase.

The results of this study stated that critical care nurses should pay more attention to effective communication with the patients' families. Also, hospital managers and administrators should develop some strategies in order to improve the quality of communication between nurses and patients’ families. Furthermore, necessary measures should be taken to implement family-centered care in the ICUs to prevent and reduce the incidence of post-intensive care syndrome.