Abstract:

Objective To explore the experience and expectation of emotional support of ICU patients，their family members and medical staff during hospitalization based on the social ecological system theory，so as to provide a reference for formulating psychological and emotional support programs for ICU patients. Methods According to the descriptive qualitative research，using the purposive sampling method，12 groups of patients，family members and medical staff who were treated in the Department of Critical Care Medicine of a Class Ⅲ Grade A hospital in Nantong from September 15，2023 to November 15，2023 were selected as the research objects，and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. The content analysis method was used to analyze，summarize and refine the data. Results Based on the social ecological system theoretical model，a total of 3 themes were summarized：①Macro system：the main task of ICU is to save lives and treat diseases，but the lack of attention and support for patients’ emotions leads to social conflicts between focusing on the length or quality of life of patients；②Meso-system：patients and their family members had strangeness and fear of the ICU treatment environment and methods，and the shortage of medical staff and lack of understanding of emotional support have led to the neglect of patients’ emotional needs；③Micro-system：due to individual differences，each patient or family member has different emotional needs，and each medical staff has different ways of expressing emotions. Conclusion ICU patients and their family members have high needs and expectations for emotional support during hospitalization，but their psychological needs are often not met due to their own and external environment and other factors. Clinical medical staff can try to improve the “soft environment” of ICU，build a humanistic care nursing model involving “patients，medical staff，and family members”，and use intelligent network platforms to take appropriate humanistic care measures to enhance the sense of emotional support for patients and family members.

Key words: Social Ecological System Theory, ICU Patients, Relation, Emotional Support, Humanistic Care, Qualitative Study, Nursing Care