ArticleNursing in critical care2025
A Thematic Analysis of Intensive Care Unit Diaries Content.
Article in Nursing in critical care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- A Thematic Analysis of Intensive Care Unit Diaries Content.Nursing in critical care · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIntensive care unit (ICU) diaries are an intervention used in the critical care setting to provide patients with a cohesive narrative of their ICU stay and can have a positive impact on patient and family outcomes. Few studies have examined the content of the diaries as written by family members and healthcare staff, and further information on this is important in understanding how and why diaries can be of benefit.
aimContent analysis of diaries completed in a medical-surgical ICU within an academic medical centre in Manitoba, Canada. STUDY
designThis was a secondary qualitative analysis of ICU diaries that were completed in 2014-2016 as part of a prior pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with adult patients, admitted for more than 72 h and ventilated for more than 24 h. We used a reflexive thematic analytic approach to qualitative analysis, resulting in major themes and subthemes of the diary content.
resultsThirty diaries were analysed. Themes identified (1) Connection (staff subthemes: personhood and personal investment, family subthemes: connection to patient and connection to family/friends), (2) Information provision (subthemes: type of information shared, how information was shared and family-specific information sharing) and (3) Coping (subthemes: expressing emotions, use of humour, spirituality).
conclusionsThis is the first study exploring the content of ICU diaries in a North American context and adds to the existing small body of literature demonstrating how families and healthcare staff use diaries. The findings are beneficial in designing future diary programmes, as understanding how diaries are used in a real-world setting can guide future implementation and resource allocation. ICU diaries are an increasingly common tool used in ICU settings to provide patients with a narrative of their critical illness. Diaries conveyed a connection between healthcare professionals, family and patient, were used to provide information and appeared to be used to help family members cope. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study provides information regarding how ICU diaries are used by healthcare providers and what information is conveyed, which is useful in guiding future implementation as this intervention becomes more widespread (e.g., utilization, feasibility and instructions).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.