Nonprofessional Care in Chronic Critically Ill Patient: A Qualitative Study

Background: Decision-making about patients with critical condition transfer from Intensive Care Unit to the general wards be delegated to their families. The aim of the study was explaining the experiences of family caregiver's about care of chronic critically ill patient. Methods: This study was conducted with a qualitative content analysis using unstructured interview. Participants were selected purposively from May 2014 to May 2015 and data collection continued until data saturation. Analysis was based on conventional content analysis. Results: Participants' experiences classified into three main categories as following: nonprofessional care, enhancing factors of care, and inhibiting factors of care. Conclusions: Finding of the current study showed different aspects of care. Care of chronic critically ill patients is a long-term process that affected by different factors. It seems that the exploration of caregivers needs and planning supportive interventions based on their needs improve the quality of care.