Purpose: the thesis describes the waiting of the relatives of patients admitted to the ICU, investigating in the literature what are their main moods and needs, the peculiarity of their relationship with the nurse and the importance of nursing counseling and finally stating the main nursing diagnoses relevant.
Methodology: the research of the sources was performed in PubMed , including articles published in English and Italian, published until 2012 .
Results: a review of the literature showed that the concept of waiting is an event that creates uncertainty, stress, frustration. The predominant moods are the feeling of being powerless, uncertainty, anxiety, fear, guilt. About the needs of relatives , nurses have reported the need to meet the cognitive needs rather than psychological and physical ones. For the relatives, instead, the priority needs have been reported in the receive rapid, clear and sincere knowledges and the need to stay close to their loved ones during hospitalization. It was found that a key figure of reference is the nurse : the type of nursing care it is not only centered on the patient but extended to his family. The purpose of counseling nursing is in particular to provide clarifications on vital signs or instruments which surround the patient. The nursing diagnoses analyzed were: the family processes interrupted and tension in the role of caregiver.
Relevance to practice and research: research and future improvement projects could investigate, for example, what means of dissemination of information would be most welcome by relatives and friends of the patient, to develop informative material on the activities of the department, on the staff and on the equipment used, to facilitate the training of the team of ICU about counseling to family members.
