The satisfaction of families in the care of their loved ones in CCUs in Lebanon.

BACKGROUND: The needs of family members vary among cultures and hospitals. Often, these needs remain unmet increasing their stress and anxiety and decreasing their satisfaction with care, which may negatively impact the quality of patient care.

AIMS: To assess the satisfaction of families with the care of their loved ones in critical care units (CCUs) in a large university medical centre in Lebanon and to assess the predictors of satisfaction.

METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive design was conducted using the Critical Care Family Satisfaction Survey (CCFSS). The participants were 123 adult relatives or significant others of patients cared for in both adult and paediatric intensive care units for at least 3 days.

RESULTS: The CCFSS showed acceptable internal reliability and construct validity in a Lebanese population. In general, families were satisfied with the care their loved ones received in the CCUs, and the least satisfaction was in the area of 'comfort' and the highest was in 'assurance'. Younger family members with more education were less satisfied with care and Christian families expressed less satisfaction with informational needs compared with Muslim families. Families of children in the paediatric CCU expressed least satisfaction with care. Gender, residency, relationship to patient, unit, prior experience in a CCU and diagnosis had no effect on satisfaction scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of family satisfaction in different cultures is important as each culture has specific needs that are essential to decipher.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Patient satisfaction leads to improved quality of care; thus, it behoves nurses to meet the needs of families from different cultures to help them cope and increase their satisfaction, which leads to improve patient outcomes.