SynthesisJournal of advanced nursing2023
Humanizing and dehumanizing intensive care: Thematic synthesis (HumanIC).
Synthesis in Journal of advanced nursing, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Patients' experiences of humanising care in Scandinavian intensive care units - a systematic review.Nursing ethics · 2026Pooled it
- Well-being and sense of security of intubated patients in intensive care units: a patient co-constructed dedicated scale.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Humanizing and dehumanizing intensive care: Thematic synthesis (HumanIC).Journal of advanced nursing · 2023Pooled it
- Article
- Development of a Humanistic Interprofessional Healthcare Model for a Regional Swiss Hospital Using Community-Based Participatory Action Research.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- The Ethical Tightrope of Physical and Environmental Restraint in ICU: A Balancing Act.Nursing in critical care · 2026Article
- Translation and Cultural Adaption of the Revised ICU Family Satisfaction Questionnaire (FS-ICU-24R) Into Danish.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Humanizing care in the ICU: how system pressures shape interacting patterns of hurry, blur, burden, and cruelty.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- How can family members of patients in the intensive care unit be supported? A systematic review of qualitative reviews, meta-synthesis, and novel recommendations for nursing care.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2024Review
- Thematic analysis of intensive care unit diaries kept by staff: insights for caring.Intensive & critical care nursing · 2023Article
- A framework for equitable virtual rehabilitation in the metaverse era: challenges and opportunities.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2023Review
- Technological mediation and humanization of nursing care: a systematic literature review.Revista CuidarteArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCritical illness and the intensive care unit can be a terrifying experience to patients and relatives and they may experience the extreme life-saving measures as dehumanizing. Humanizing intensive care is often described as holism or dignity, but these abstract concepts provide little bodily resonance to what a humanized attitude is in concrete situations.
objectiveTo explore what contributes to patients' and relatives' experience of intensive care as humanized or dehumanized.
designThematic synthesis. MATERIALS: Findings from 15 qualitative papers describing patients' and/or relatives' perceptions of humanizing or dehumanizing care.
methodsA systematic literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and EMBASE from 1 January 1999 to 20 August 2022 identified 16 qualitative, empirical papers describing patients' and relatives' experiences of humanizing or dehumanizing intensive care, which were assessed using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Qualitative Checklist, 15 papers were included and analysed using Thematic Synthesis and Ricoeur's model of the text.
findingsIntensive care was humanized when patients felt connected with healthcare professionals, with themselves by experiencing safety and well-being and with their loved ones. Intensive care was humanized to relatives when the patient was cared for as a unique person, when they were allowed to stay connected to the patient and when they felt cared for in the critical situation.
conclusionPatients and relatives experienced intensive care as humanized when healthcare professionals expressed genuine attention and supported them through their caring actions and when healthcare professionals supported patients' and relatives' opportunities to stay connected in the disrupted situation of critical illness. When healthcare professionals offered a connection to the patients and relatives, this helped them hold on and find meaning. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient and public contribution.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.