FAMILY MEMBERS EXPERIENCES OF THEIR ROLE IN A HOSPITAL - A PILOT-STUDY

The purpose of the study is to explore the experiences of family membe rs in their role of relative in a situation where a next of kin has be en admitted to hospital. The questionnaire was used in data collection . The data reported here are from a pilot study. The sample consisted of 70 family members of patients receiving treatment on the neurologic al wards. It was found that family members spent a lot of time at thei r relative's bedside, most of them up to several hours a day. The dail y routines of families and way of life were also very much affected. T he most important way in which the hospital supported families was to keep them informed about the patient's care and treatment, However, th is was not possible without an active interest and involvement on the part of family members themselves. There were obvious problems and sho rtcomings in terms of family orientation: only one third of the family members felt that the nursing staff were seriously interested in the family's well-being, and only one quarter had been told what they coul d do in hospital. About half of the family members needed to meet nurs es to get support from nurses and over one third from doctors. The old est respondents and women needed more help than did others. Men prefer red to turn to doctors rather than nurses for help. In general family members had good experiences of visiting their relative in hospital. T hey believed that they were expected and that they were of help to the ir relative. Over half of the family members said they were actively i nvolved in caring for their relative, Only four per cent of the family members reported bad experiences of their visits to hospital, in spit e of the obvious shortcomings in family nursing. For this reason it is important that nurses facilitate the involvement and integration of r elatives in the process of nursing.