Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 13th Edition by Kerry Cheever, Janice Hinkle

Exercise 2

A 34-year-old man who was originally from Haiti is hospitalized in theneurosurgical intensive care unit with a traumatic brain injury subsequent to a 30-foot fall from a scaffold.His immediate family members insist on staying with himaround the clock, and many extended family members visit each day, staying lateinto the night.His prognosis is poor, and when his attending physician discussesdiscontinuing life support therapy with his family members who are his legal next ofkin, they acquiesce but request that all family members be allowed to remain presentto witness his death. Policies in the intensive care unit do not permit more than threefamily members to be with a patient at any given time. The staff members complainthat they have difficulty completing their tasks with other critically ill patientsbecause of the distractions they face from the multiple family members visiting thisman.How can you help the nursing staff explore the meaning of the family'sbehavior and understand their own negative feelings about this behavior? Devise astrategy that will help resolve this situation.