NEEDS OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF PATIENTS ADMITTED TO THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

The objectives of the present study were to assess the reliability of the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory on a sample of 72 relatives of newborns staying in a neonate intensive care unit and to identify the importance of these needs. This quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out from July to September 2008. To assess the importance of the needs, the mean scores of each subscale were calculated together with the total of the items in the instrument. To assess reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated. The instrument presented adequate values of internal consistency for the total of items and for the subscales. The most important needs were those related to safety, information and closeness. To be aware of family members needs enables nurses to introduce actions to ensure a better quality of care provided to newborns and their families.