Özet:

Purpose: This study is aimed at identifying the needs of the patients family, based on the experiences of the families who have long been ill in the intensive care unit, and determining strategies/interventions that will contribute to the development of services in this field. Tools and Methods: This study, which is a qualitative type of phenomenological research, was conducted between 29 September and 10 October 2017. In the study, a long-term intensive care unit selected with targeted sampling was held face-to-face semi-built conversations with the families with the patient.  The conversations were continued until data saturation was obtained (n=13). The results of the study were analyzed through the content analysis method. The findings: The vast majority of the patient's relatives found this process psychosocially devastating. In this context, the discussion resulted in four main, seven sub-themes; the first main themes of the "Thoughts and Emotions Related to the Process" were found as the sub-themes of "Uncertainty", "A situation between hope and disappointment" and "A sad process that makes complex emotions feel." The second main theme, the sub-themes of "Process difficulties" are identified as "Change of their own needs", "Experiences with staff working in high care", "Hospital processes" and "Economic". The third main theme was "Psychosocial support needs" and the fourth main theme was "opinions and recommendations on service". Results: The research has found that patients who have been in a long-term intensive care unit in this process need psychosocial and economic support. It is also believed that the creation and dissemination of facilities that can be treated in Turkey for patients who require long-term mechanical ventilation support, similar to long-term emergency care hospitals located abroad, will contribute to the reduction of health costs for both their families and related patients.

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