Informed consent in the intensive care unit: The experiences and expectations of patients and their families

Abstract

Objective: To describe the awareness of intensive care unit patients and their next of kin (NoK) about invasive procedures and their expectations of informed consent for procedures in the ICU. Design and setting: A written survey of patients and their NoK in a tertiary, university-affiliated ICU, using multiplechoice questions, Likert scales and comments to generate semiquantitative and qualitative data. Participants: Fifty-one ICU patients and 69 NoK completed the survey. Inclusion criteria were unplanned ICU admission, ICU length-of-stay > 24 hours, English speaking and competent to consent to participate. Main outcome measures: Proportion of procedures respondents were aware had occurred ..