2025 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 23-30
The present study aimed to clarify the nursing practice to assist family members’ emancipated decision-making(EDM)in choosing treatment options for patients facing terminal stages in the intensive care unit. Eleven nurses with Level IV and higher certifications from the “Clinical Ladder for Nurses Attending Intensive Care Practice” underwent a series of semi-structured interviews. Subsequently, ten categories were generated, including 〈Assessing family members’ understanding regarding patient’s condition from their appearances〉, 〈Grasping the relationships among those involved in choosing treatment options〉, 〈Understanding circumstances where family members hesitate to discuss treatment options〉, 〈Explaining patient’s current conditions clearly to deepen the family members’ understanding〉, 〈Coordinating family meeting with doctors to help family members to understand the patient’s conditions〉, 〈Providing family members with a space and opportunity for honest discussion〉, 〈Attending to family members’ concerns〉, 〈Assisting all family members to help each other to reach the treatment decision〉, 〈Accepting family members’ sufferings and encourage them〉, and 〈Assessing from family members’ speech and behavior if they reached decisions with confidence〉. As this study demonstrated, medical teams must actively use the above-mentioned support contents in case conferences and nursing practice to aid patients’ and their families’ EDM.
