Deciphering the relationship between the experience of intensive care patients and individualized care

Intensive care units are units where patients in critical condition and/or organ failure are treated as inpatients. Patients experience positive/negative experiences during their follow-up period in the intensive care unit. Negative experiences reduce patients' adherence to treatment and prolong the length of stay. Nurses play a key role in reducing the negative experiences of patients in intensive care. The holistic approach of the nurses to the patients contributes to the positive experiences of the patients. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the experiences of intensive care patients and individualized care. The study is descriptive and correlational study. It was carried out between November and December 2022 in Internal Intensive Care Units at a University Hospital in Konya. The sample of the study consisted of 115 patients. Data were collected using the Descriptive Characteristics Form, the Intensive Care Experience Scale, and the Individualized Care Scale-Patient Version. The data were collected face-to-face immediately after the decision to remove the patients from the intensive care unit, or in the patients who were discharged to the service. Analyzes were made using the SPSS 25.0 package program. The normality analysis of the data was evaluated with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. In the analysis, t test, One Way Anova test, Tukey test and Pearson Correlation Analysis were used in independent groups. The significance level was accepted as p<0.05. The mean age of the study group was 66.56, 63.5% male and 36.5% female. In the study, the mean score of the Intensive Care Experience Scale was 71.37 ± 9.93, and the mean score of the Individualized Care Scale-Patient Version was 3.97 ± 0.52. It was determined that there was a moderate positive correlation between the Intensive Experience Scale total score and the Individualized Care Scale total score. It is statistically significant. Both the intensive care experience and the perception of individualized care of the patients in the intensive care unit are above the medium level. The intensive care experience of the patients; gender, existing chronic diseases, length of stay in the intensive care unit, and the continuation of the treatment depending on the ventilator. Individualized care perceptions of patients; Income level, continuation of the treatment depending on the ventilator, having a visitor affect the situation. There is a moderate positive correlation between the intensive care experience of the patients and their perception of individualized care. It can be said that the individualized care applied by the nurses has a positive contribution to the intensive care experience of the patients. It can be recommended to increase the awareness of nurses on this issue and to apply individualized care to patients in intensive care.