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- Title
Anticipating the awakening: The lived experience of families of patients undergoing successful targeted temperature management after cardiac arrest.
- Authors
Burns, Margie; McInnis-Perry, Gloria; MacQuarrie, Colleen; Murray, Christina
- Abstract
Background: Targeted temperature management (TTM), formally known as therapeutic hypothermia, became a standard of care in 2002 after studies in Australia and Europe demonstrated that it increased patient survival and neurological recovery after cardiac arrest. Survivors of successful TTM after cardiac arrest have no memory o f the event or of their time in ICU; this is in stark contrast to the families' experience o f this event. To date, few studies have attempted to describe the families' experience of their loved ones' successful treatment with TTM. Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe further the lived experience of families o f patients who have undergone successful TTM. Design: A descriptive phenomenological inquiry was conducted using a purposive and snowball sampling strategy to recruit nine participants who had an immediate family member receive successful TTM after cardiac arrest. Data were collected through digitally audio-taped, one-on-one interviews, using a semi-structured interview guide. Giorgi's (2009) descriptive phenomenological psychological method of analysis was used to form a description of the meaning o f the experience as lived by families. Results: Although this phenomenon shares some common denominators with existing literature, new knowledge was revealed that included the provocation of existential challenges felt by family members, differences in perceived realities that were dependent on family roles, and the additional burden that family members experience through medical transfer a significant distance away for ongoing treatment after TTM. Conclusion: This new knowledge further enhances nurses' understanding about the family member's experience o f a loved one’s successful TTM, thereby enabling them to better meet the health needs o f these individuals.
- Subjects
CANADA; MYOCARDIAL infarction treatment; FAMILIES; INDUCED hypothermia; INTERVIEWING; PHENOMENOLOGY; RESEARCH methodology; RESEARCH funding; STATISTICAL sampling; JUDGMENT sampling
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Critical Care Nursing, 2018, Vol 29, Issue 1, p17
- ISSN
2368-8653
- Publication type
Article