A 6-y retrospective cohort study of family satisfaction with critical care and decision-making in an Australian intensive care unit

Background: Partnering with patients and families to make decisions about care needs is a safety and quality standard in Australian health services that is often not assessed systematically. Objective: The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate satisfaction with care and involvement in decision-making among family members of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of a satisfaction survey administered to family members of patients admitted to an ICU in an Australian metropolitan tertiary care hospital from 2014 to 2019 was conducted. The Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit questionnaire (FSICU) questionnaire was used to assess overall satisfaction, satisfaction with care, and satisfaction with decision-making on a scale from “poor” (0) to “excellent” (100). Results: In total, 1322 family members fully completed the survey. Respondents were typically direct relatives of ICU patients (94.2%) with an average age of 52.6 years. Most patients had an ICU length of stay