Post-operative experiences from entry to exit of older adults (aged 75 or older) who entered ICU planned procedures

Abstract

　The purpose of this study was to obtain nursing-support suggestions by describing the ICU experiences of postoperative older adults who underwent planned procedures. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 patients and analyzed them qualitatively and descriptively based on the Modified Grounded Theory Approach.
　11 categories were created for detailing the experience while being in the ICU, starting from “return to the real world”, “alive feeling”, “unrealistic salvation”, “a place with a high risk to lives”, and “a time when I could not get a sense of reality”. After awakening from anesthesia, “relieving mind and body by nursing” from the sense of security I performed “feeling their way”, “coping and estimating”, then spread to “expanding interest in ICU society” and “looking back on life”. It was the “no matter what the situation” way of life that supported the transition.
　Although there were some unreal narratives, there was no fear experience or narratives indicating depression and anxiety. It is necessary to provide assistance to older adults so that they can feel reassured even when they are half awake and to promote “coping and estimating”.