Measuring satisfaction with general and end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: The euroQ2 project

Thinking of about intensive care medicine people imagine machines and heroism. But the true essence of intensive care is making choices. Delivering the right care at the right time and place to the right patient.
Involving family members, in the broadest sense of the word, in the care and decision-making, the so called family-centered-care, is important. To know the values, wishes and expectations of families and to see if they are met is a challenging task and the subject of this thesis.
To deliver good quality care to patients dying in the ICU and their families is an important part of intensive care medicine. It was shown that American questionnaires, to evaluate this care, were not well suited for our population, we developed and validated, together with a Danish researcher an European adaptation of the instrument.
The conclusion of this thesis, using the instrument, is that the quality of ICU care, especially end-of-life care, as perceived by families is good in Danish and Dutch ICUs. There are also possibilities for improvement. The measuring instrument euroQ2 worked well but needs further validation before it can be used routinely in other European countries. Studies trying to achieve this are currently under way.