Benefit of using a “bundled” consent for intensive care unit procedures as part of an early family meeting ☆

Abstract Purpose Relatives of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are often dissatisfied with family-physician communication. Our prospective preintervention and postintervention study tested the hypothesis that introducing this informed consent process would improve family satisfaction with the ICU process of care. Materials and methods We developed a consent form that included an introductory explanation of the main ICU interventions and a description of 8 common procedures in a surgical ICU. We administered it early in the ICU course during a scheduled family meeting. The study was a prospective preintervention and postintervention design. Results The "Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit" (FS-ICU) score was higher in the intervention than in the control group (95.4 ± 4 vs 78.2 ± 22, P P Conclusion A bundled informed consent resulted in higher family satisfaction with the process of care in ICU.