This study collected the experiences of family decision making involvement experiences of 12 patients with severe pancreatitis between 29 January 2016 and 25 November 2016 and distilled four themes including: ICU family surrogate cognitive self-role, ICU family surrogate consider of uncertainty, ICU family surrogate communication consultation, decision-making attitude of ICU surrogate.
Theme 1: ICU family surrogate cognitive self-role
This theme consists of three primary elements: "perceived experience of competence", "experience of psychological state" and "somatic experience".
Regarding the knowledge of the disease, the family members lacked knowledge about severe pancreatitis and their understanding was inconsistent. For example, family member A said, "There is no awareness of health care" because they were not educated and had not finished secondary school, so they had no awareness of medical care at all. The family E said "a little bit of understanding", because she worked in the hospital, the patient also had pancreatitis before. "But not very much", after all, she couldn't grasp so much, and some issues were still not understood.
The negative psychological indicators of family members' participation in decision-making are: anxiety and fear, feelings of uselessness, uncertainty and unfairness, and the positive psychological indicators are: sense of responsibility, confidence and strength.
Regarding anxiety and fear, e.g. Family B is "very anxious" because the condition has a high mortality rate and a critical illness notice has been given. Family member F feels "very worried" because the patient is very swollen, has no consciousness and he does not feel anything. Regarding the sense of uselessness, Family B feels "it's useless" because they don't understand. Family member H felt "there is nothing I can do" because the condition is very serious and there is nothing they can do. Regarding the feeling of uncertainty, family member E said that he "had doubts and thought of transferring to another hospital" because his condition was getting worse and he was already in a coma and not very conscious at that time. Regarding the sense of injustice, as family member I mentioned, "life is so unfair to me" and how everything is spread to her.
Positive psychological indicators are listed below: regarding responsibility, e.g. Family A states "go face it, you can't put the blame on your parents" because that's not what men do. Family member J stated that "couples are supposed to stay together" because two people in a couple are in trouble together. Regarding confidence, Family member A wanted to "give yourself confidence" because my brother is a good person, he will be fine with anything and this big disaster will definitely pass. About strength, Family G said "Family members have to be strong (2 times)" because you have to go and give him confidence, you also have to face the doctors, the family and all the people.
As family members became more involved in decision-making in the ICU, they began to show physical symptoms, as family member A described, "I have taken several Valium tablets, but I still can't sleep", because I was faced with all the things the doctor told me about the disease every day, plus the pressure of the internet and the financial pressure. Family member F "I can't eat or sleep well", because sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night dreaming that the patient is not being cured.
Theme 2: ICU family surrogate consider of uncertainty
This theme consists of four elements: 'Considering the patient', 'Considering the economy', 'Considering the disease', 'Considering the outcome'.
The family includes four aspects when considering the patient: somatic experience, psychological state, personal characteristics, emotional support. Regarding the somatic experience, family member H felt that the patient "always suffered and our hearts ached" because she was uncomfortable, her brain was muddled and if the tubes were removed they would have to be inserted again. Family member K felt that the patient "suffered pain and was so miserable" because after the operation he was there by himself in tears, with tubes all over his body, and the tube in his mouth to keep him breathing was so thick that he must have been uncomfortable. Regarding his psychological state, family member I felt that "the patient was very agitated and scared" because he was awake and saw that he was a critical patient and that he was going to die at any moment. Family member E felt that "the patient was a bit depressed" because everyone was busy with their own work. He had been in the ICU for a long time, so he had some psychological problems and went to the mental health unit at that time. Regarding personality traits, family member L felt that the patient was "mentally well" because before he was admitted to the ICU, he was in a good state to eat and play with his mobile phone every day. Regarding emotional support, family member K said "let his will power be strong" because we had to hold on and give him a break.
Family K said that financially it was "simply unaffordable" as they were from another city and the daily costs were very high. Family member I said it was ok that the patient had health insurance, "it relieved a lot of the burden".
Regarding the seriousness of the illness, family member A "never dreamed of such a big illness", never thought that he had this illness, never thought he had this big illness. Regarding the danger of the disease, family member A felt that it was "very, very dangerous (with his hand over his chest)", because a normal lung is two lobes, but his lung was already squeezed out and was only as big as his fist.
The family includes two aspects when considering the outcome: uncertainty and expectation of improvement. Family A said that "no one knows", because after all, they have to rely on themselves and all the equipment to observe them, and no one is an immortal who can tell all at once. Family member G said that he "might not be there at any time", because being in the care unit is a risky situation and his condition is sometimes recurrent. Family member K said he "believes he will get better" because after all, he is young and the important thing is that he has children, so there should still be a chance.
Theme 3: ICU family surrogate communication consultation
The ICU family's experience of decision making involving communication and consultation includes four dimensions: consultation with a health care provider, consultation with a friend, consultation with a network, and consultation with a family member.
There are five areas that families cover when consulting their health care provider: information about the illness, finding hope, communication about the relationship, communication time and communication effectiveness. Family member G said, "I just need the simplest information about the change between today and yesterday", because I don't understand the data on the computer, we don't know what it means.
Family members look for hope from the medical staff during consultations. Family member G said "trust the doctors, you give me the most confidence" because every day they come in and communicate the changes in his day, and several times I have come in and seen them standing there watching him again. Regarding the communication relationship, the family sometimes feels nervous when consulting with the doctor and the family feels that "the doctor is annoying me" because I am too noisy and ask him so many times every day and I am always around whenever he is there. Regarding the effectiveness of the communication, for example, family member A felt that "the condition was discussed more comprehensively" because the doctor was very good, he would tell you what would happen later, at least he had a bottom in his mind. Sometimes the communication was ineffective and family member K felt that it was "difficult to communicate" because they only accepted the visiting time to ask questions about their condition and the visiting time was only half an hour, so they could only talk briefly before leaving.
When family members consulted the internet for information about the disease, Family H repeatedly stated that "it is helpful to know the history of treatment development" because it facilitates their own analysis and handling of matters related to the disease.
When the family consulted the internet to search for hope, Family A mentioned that they were "looking forward to seeing a good thing on Baidu", as the family was looking forward to a popular comment that there was nothing in the ICU to give them confidence. There are three aspects to family members consulting their family members: concern, ambivalence and comfort.
There are three aspects to family members consulting their family members: concern, ambivalence and comfort. Family members feel worried when they consult their family members. Family member A says that "there is no way to discuss this with my parents" because they are so far away, thousands of kilometers away, so I don't want them to worry more! It's better to put everything in my heart. Family member I said "very contradictory" because the sisters are too old to take care of themselves. On the one hand, I told them that I was afraid they wouldn't be able to take the blow, but on the other hand, I didn't say anything in case something happened, so I was afraid they would blame me. Family member K feels "still comforted" because there are many sisters and they help to think of ways to finance them, so the pressure will be less.
Theme 4: Decision-making attitude of ICU surrogate
This theme consists of five elements: "trust the doctor", "actively save him", "actively cooperate", "try to cooperate" and "only cooperate". When the decision was made to "actively save him", family member G wanted to "pay the money in every day and give him as much medicine as possible, as long as he could be saved", because the patient's fever was constantly high and low, and he was anxious because of the repetition. When the decision is "actively cooperate", family K thinks that if the condition is stable, they can be transferred to a general ward and the costs will be reduced and the pressure will be less. When the decision is "try to cooperate", family H thinks "I'll do it if I can, but there's no point in doing it again if I can't", because the family thinks the condition is so bad that they have to see if they can bear it, either mentally or financially. When the family's decision was "to cooperate", family member B said "leave it to your medical care!" Because there was nothing they could do. Family member H also repeatedly said "I can only cooperate with you" because we don't understand, but the doctor will tell us how to treat this condition later.