The nursing staff is therefore viewed as the indicator of patient dependency ( Barr et al., 1973). It is measured by the time spent by nurses at the bedside as well as the related workload. Normally, “patient dependency” refers to the amount of care/time needed by a patient and is dependent on the severity of the patient’s condition and their needs ( Barr, Moores, & Rhys Hearn, 1973, p. The nature of dependency, however, is seldom verbalized nor understood by nurses and other health care providers ( Lykkegaard & Delmar, 2013).Ī critical review of the literature revealed two methods for measuring a patient’s care dependency. Current understanding of care dependency comes from the caregiver’s perspective, while the patient’s feelings are neglected. This dependency may produce a variety of negative feelings, such as powerlessness and shame ( Lykkegaard & Delmar, 2013 Svedlund, Danielson, & Norberg, 2001). There is a high incidence of dependency in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) due to their severe illness and compromised body functions. The conceptual model explicated here may provide a framework for understanding dependency in critically ill patients. Overarching themes emerged that reflected critically ill patients’ experience and meaning of being in dependency were (a) antecedents: dependency in critically ill patients was a powerless and vulnerable state, triggered by a life-threatening crisis (b) attributes: the characteristic of losing “self” was featured by dehumanization and disembodiment, which can be alleviated by a “self”-restoring process and (c) outcomes: living with dependency and coping with dependency. An inductive process described by Deborah Finfgeld-Connett was used to analyze the data. The concept of “dependency” in critically ill patients was analyzed using a meta-synthesis approach. However, the term dependency is not well defined in the critically ill patients. By necessity, critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have a high level of dependency, which is linked to a variety of negative feelings, such as powerlessness.
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