Patient well-being in intensive care

In most intensive care units the assessment of patients' subjective symptoms and quality of life is not part of daily clinical practice. To this end we collected patients' perceptions after discharge from intensive care units in order to ascertain whether nursing care promotes both their physical and psychological well-being. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 30 patients in medical and surgical intensive care units using a questionnaire. Patients were interviewed immediately after discharge from the ICU. The main discomforts mentioned by patients following their stay in intensive care were pain (93%) noise (83%) thirst (73%) too much light (60%) lack of sleep (60%) uncomfortable bedding (57%) lack of privacy (53%) reduced visiting time (47%) isolation (40%) cold and heat (43%) anxiety (37%) and being surrounded by pipes (37%).