The Experience of Family Visits in the ICU: A Dual-Perspective Qualitative Study of Nurses and Family Members of Comatose Patients.

Background

The intensive care unit (ICU) is a crucial place for treating patients in a coma. Visiting activities in this area are often restricted by strict infection control and safety regulations. In the study institution, visiting is limited to a fixed 30-min period each day, which is a relatively strict policy internationally.

Aim

From the perspectives of both nurses and family members, this study explores the actual experiences of both parties during the limited visiting time, identifies the multiple challenges they face, and provides a basis for optimizing the humanized visiting strategy. STUDY

Design

A descriptive qualitative research method was adopted. From June to September 2025, 24 nurses and 25 family members of comatose patients from a tertiary hospital's ICU in China were selected as the research subjects. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and themes were extracted using the inductive content analysis method.

Findings

The research has distilled four core themes: (1) Waiting: Pre-Visit Burden, Anxiety, and Informational Uncertainty; (2) Encounter: Role Management and Individual Imbalance During the Visit; (3) Aftermath: Post-Visit Self-Adjustment and Continuation of Experience; (4) Undercurrent: Emotional Exhaustion and Role Strain in Long-Term Visiting.

Conclusions

The visiting experience of ICU nurses and family members of comatose patients encounters multiple challenges at each stage-before, during, and after the visit. There is also long-term cumulative stress, and both parties lack adequate systematic support. Optimizing the visiting system requires the formulation of corresponding strategies that address the different needs of nurses and families, respectively. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE ICU nurses can develop standardized information-sharing lists and structured visiting guidance tools, enhance communication training, and establish an emotional support mechanism for both nurses and patients, in order to alleviate emotional exhaustion and optimize the quality of visits within the limited visiting time.