Patients' experiences of intensive care and the determination of the affecting factors

The research was made as a definer research in order to ascertain the intensive care experiences of the patients and the factors affecting them. 40 patients who were served in the Hacettepe Hospitals Internal Diseases Intensive Care Unit were taken as samples for the research, with 80 % theoretical power. The data collection form Intensive Care Experience Scale (ICES) was used for the collection of the data. The Mann Whitney U test was used for frequency dispersion and for tandem groups without normal dispersion and the Kruskal- Wallis H test was used for the groups with more than two people, in the statistical analysis of the data. The ICES total point average of the patients was calculated as 65.1±7.5 at the end of the analysis. The scale subgroup point averages of the patients were; 17.2±3.7 in the subgroup of ''Being aware of the environment'', 16.5±3.9 in the subgroup ''Pessimistic experiences about intensive care'', and it was found 15±3.1in the subgroup ''Satisfaction about the intensive care''. It was ascertained that the intensive care experience changed at a negative direction with old age, having a bachelor's degree, paying the expenses with the income, having aches, intramuscular treatment, central venous catheter, urinary bladder catheter, being given position, pressure sore, experiencing sleep problems, application of physical determination, not being informed, not being able to express their nuisances and problems, being isolated, and the unsuitability of the sound level and the heat of the environment (p<0.05). Suitable advices were given at the end of the research. Keywords: Intensive Care, Intensive Care Unit, Intensive Care Patient, Intensive Care Experience, Intensive Care Experience Scale, Interior Diseases, Nursing