INTRODUCTION

The aim was to describe the relatives need for support and information during the acute phase when a next of kin has survived cardiac arrest treated with hypothermia at the intensive care unit (ICU). The aim was also to describe how everyday life is affected.

OBJECTIVES

Twenty relatives were interviewed at the time the person who had suffered acardiac arrest was discharged from hospital, 1.5–6 weeks after the cardiac arrest.

METHODS

The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

Support and information.The relatives emphasized the importance of support from the family but they could also feel loneliness in difficult moments. The staff’s presence in the ICU was supportive but how much of support the relatives experienced varied among the groups of relatives. Several of them experienced that the contact with other relatives and friends was a requirement and that all telephone calls to other relatives and friends took a lot of time and also that they could not cope with it. The relatives described that the information received at the ICU was adequate and correct. They felt, however, difficulties to assimilate the information because of difficulties in concentration and language confusion affecting the interpretation of the information. They appreciated the opportunity to ask questions but felt that the answers they sought for was not available. In comparison with ICU, the relatives experienced less information and contact with the staff in the medical ward. The relatives wished more written information and were missing information about prevention. Impact on daily life. The relatives experienced that every day life was affected through increased responsibility for the home. They also experienced that they had to support other relatives and had difficulty to take care of other relatives’ worries. The injured person’s disease resulted in a lot of practical things to take care of, like certificate, absence from work and travels to the hospital. They felt worry for the injured person and how the disease had affected them, mostly they were concerned about personality changes. They felt responsible for the injured person and were also concerned about how to cope with daily life after the person being discharged from the hospital. The relatives felt uncertainty about the future but hopeful. The interviews also revealed that many of the relatives had not discussed with the person stricken by the disease what really had happened.

CONCLUSIONS

The most important support when a next of kin had suffered a cardiac arrest was from other family members. The relatives wished repeated and more written information. Increased responsibility for the home and for the person stricken by the disease was the experience by the relatives on how everyday life was affected