Hola a tod@s, my dear friends:

Published on July 2014 in Nursing in Critical Care, the Journal of British Association of Critical Care Nurses, our mate and  member of IC-HU Network Concha Zaforteza and her team talk about a fascinating topic. 


Families of critically ill patients have unmet needs that are not being addressed. Lack of attention to these needs is related more to the ICU context than to a lack of scientific evidence. The authors conducted a Participatory action research (PAR) in the ICU of Hospital de Son Dureta, in Palma de Mallorca.

They founded four limited change:
1. Not acknowledging the legitimacy of scientific evidence regarding the families of critically ill patients. 
2. Imbalanced power relationships between the members of multidisciplinary teams. 
3. Lack of nurse participation in the information flows. 
4. The organization of time and physical space in the unit. 

And three factors facilitated change: 
– A sense of individual and shared commitment. 
– Leadership in day-to-day matters. 
– A process based on reflection.

The authors conclude that PAR can lead to change in clinical practice, although the process is complex and requires substantial input of time and energy.

Despite many limited change factors were structural, the individual person is a powerful change engine. Healthcare providers at the bedside are capable of identifying, developing and introducing changes to the context in which they work.

From IC-HU Project, our congratulations to the authors.
What do you think?

Happy Tuesday, 
Gabi