Why Do Family Members Choose to Stay or Leave During Resuscitation?

This study is a result of the PRESENCE trial which randomized 570 French family members, who were present in the home of a person in cardiac arrest, into either the intervention or control group. In the intervention group, the resuscitation team routinely asked the family members if they wanted to be present at the side of the patient being resuscitated. The control group didn't actively ask family members, but allowed them to independently decide their presence. They then categorized the family member's perception of their reason to be present or absent during the resuscitation. Four themes emerged: 1. Choosing to be actively involved in the resuscitation, which reflected the person's desire to participate in the resuscitation process, feel emotionally able to be present, to support the patient during CPR and to witness the efforts of the resuscitation. Those who declined to be present felt they needed to protect themselves from witnessing the disturbing scenes of resuscitation. 2. Communication between the family member and the emergency team so as to relay the patient's medical information and develop a sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the team's efforts. 3. Perception of the reality of death was enhanced by the awareness of the patient's critical condition and solidified by observing the unsuccessful resuscitation. 4. Experience and reaction of the relative witnessing (or not) the resuscitation provided a feeling of relief in relation to the patient's distres...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Columns Patient Care Source Type: news