AIM The identification of patient perceptions of aspects of care provided in intensive care units (ICU) from the perspective of respiratory patients and the comparison of those findings with the perceptions identified by the ICU staff.
MATERIAL-METHOD There was an assessment of the answers given by sixty-two respiratory patients and forty-nine ICU staff members from Athens and the provinces to a questionnaire developed with the aim to assess their opinions about the kind and quality of received care. The data were analyzed with the statistical software program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 11.0 for Windows and more specifically using Chi-square tests.
RESULTS Setting a significance level (P) of 0.05, tests used showed statistically significant differences between the opinions of respiratory patients and health professionals on all the questionnaire items. More specifically, health professionals and respiratory patients were found to have different opinions about the most important parts of ICU care (x²=76.53, df=13); the most positive aspects of ICU care (x²=79.04, df=13); the most negative aspects of ICU care (x²=79.38, df=20); the information needed (x²=24.85, df=6) and finally, the appropriate improvements that ICU staff should make in their everyday practice (x²=92.39, df=19).
COMCLUSIONS A continuous and constructive feedback between respiratory patient and the staff who cares for him should be established as a crucial aspect of the complex process of ICU health care so as the patient to be finally helped.
Original Paper