217 Family Needs of Critically Ill Patients in Central Jordan: A Family Perspective Wesam Thaer Almagharbeh 1 *, Mosa Ali Alhassan 2 , Mohammad Al Motlaq 1 and R N Esam Taher Almagarbeh 3 1 Department of Nursing, Al Ghad International Colleges for Applied Medical Sciences, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2 Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan 3 The Royal Medical Services, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein Military Hospital, Emergency Department, Jordan *Corresponding author: Wesam Thaer Almagharbeh, Department of Nursing, AlGhad International Colleges for Applied Medical Sciences, Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To Cite This Article: W Thaer Almagharbeh, M Ali Alhassan, M Al Motlaq, R N E Taher Almagarbeh. Family Needs of Critically Ill Patients in Central Jordan: A Family Perspective. Am J Biomed Sci & Res. 2019 - 1(5). AJBSR.MS.ID.000546. DOI: 10.34297/AJBSR.2019.01.000546 Received: February 27, 2019 | Published: March 08, 2019 Copy Right@ Wesam Thaer Almagharbeh Research Article American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research www.biomedgrid.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License AJBSR.MS.ID.000546. Abstract Background and aims: Family members’ needs of hospitalized critically ill patients have been researched using both quantitative and qualitative designs. The purpose of this study was to describe family members’ perceptions of their needs during the hospitalization of their critically ill relative. Methods: Two questionnaires were used; socio-demographic data sheet and the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (CCFNI) questionnaire, a descriptive comparative design was utilized to describe family members’ perceptions of their needs during hospitalization of their critically ill relative. Results: A convenience sample of 227 family members participated in the study. The sample included 57.3% family members from public hospitals and 42.7% from private hospitals. Family members perceived 27 out of 44 needs as important or very important. The family members perceived assurance, information, and proximity higher than comfort and support needs (4 out of the 10 were related to the assurance subscale, 3 were related to proximity subscale; and the remaining items were related to the information subscale). Discussion and Conclusions: The current study investigated family needs within the context of the Jordanian population using valid and reliable measures. Although several studies investigated family needs, the current study was superlative to these by including larger samples from culturally diverse settings. Regardless of its descriptive nature, the study findings can help nurses give more attention to the psychological needs of the family members and involve these needs in their plan of care. The study has several implications for policy makers and nursing practice where fulfilling family needs is congruent with the holistic practice widely advised. Keywords: CCFNI; Critically-ill patient; Nursing; Family needs; Jordan Introduction Admission to critical care is considered stressful and sometimes traumatic for both patients and their family members [1]. Peoples’ ability to cope with the emotional and psychological aspects of such admission is confronting [2]. Such an experience affects family’s stability and compromise their ability to interact and support their ill relative and subsequently affects treatment’ responses [3,4]. It is well established in the literature that family members can play several crucial roles in the critically ill patient’s plan of care [5,6]. Among the roles assuming decision-making on behalf of the patient, especially when this patient is physically or psychologically compromised by a serious illness [7] and providing social support [8]. The family context represents the most important support system that positively influences patient’s outcomes [5]. When the family responses to stressors are overwhelming, the result may be inability of the family to provide patient support hence affecting patients’ recovery [7,8]. Stressors affecting family members of critically ill patients include unfamiliar critical care environment, total shifting of the responsibilities to family members, lack of knowledge, and financial concerns related to hospitalization [9]. These stressors can generate a variety of emotional responses such as shock, anxiety, anger, fear, which can overwhelm the family unit and affect its sense ISSN: 2642-1747