ESTABLISHING THE NURSE-FAMILY RELATIONSHIP IN THE INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

The nurse-family relationship in the intensive care unit (ICU) may rep lace the traditional nurse-patient relationship due to the patient's c ompromised stare. As a result, the nurse-family relationship becomes e xtremely important. Nurses and families may develop a relationship in which they work together to benefit the patient, or an inadequate rela tionship may develop. In this study, strategies used by nurses and fam ilies to either develop or inhibit the development of the nurse-family relationship were identified. Using unstructured interviews with ICU nurses and family members of ICU patients, categories of strategies we re identified and behaviors described Nurses and families perceived th at they each displayed only positive behaviors yet identified inhibiti ng behaviors of the other Once the behaviors were shown to nurses as s econdary informants, they were able to identify with their negative be haviors. An understanding of these strategies will help nurses to reev aluate their practice and enhance their understanding of the behaviors of family members.