The Relationship between Organizational Culture and Family Satisfaction in Critical Care

Critical Care depends on the coordination and collaboration of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals to deliver care that is efficient, effective, safe, and patient-centred. As patient perspectives are often difficult to elicit in critical care settings because of the severity of illness, patients’ families frequently become involved in decision-making and care. As a result, being ‘family-centred’ is an important part of being ‘patient-centred’ in critical care.

Research Summary

Critical Care depends on the coordination and collaboration of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals to deliver care that is efficient, effective, safe, and patient-centred. As patient perspectives are often difficult to elicit in critical care settings because of the severity of illness, patients’ families frequently become involved in decision-making and care. As a result, being ‘family-centred’ is an important part of being ‘patient-centred’ in critical care.

This study will measure organizational culture in each of the 37 ICUs in British Columbia, and correlate these with measures of family satisfaction from the same ICUs. By correlating areas of good or poor performance with scores on specific domains from each of the organizational culture surveys, the research team will identify aspects of organizational culture that may be drivers of family satisfaction.

Based on knowledge generated from this study, the research team will be able to prioritize and plan interventions in organizational culture that are likely to improve family satisfaction in critical care settings. These findings will also be useful to health care decision-makers across the country, as family satisfaction is the best measure of ‘patient-centredness’ in critical care.