The Facilitated Sensemaking Model As a Framework for Family-Patient Communication During Mechanical Ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit

Family caregivers of intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at high risk for adverse psychological outcomes. Communication difficulty due to mechanical ventilation may induce or worsen adverse psychological outcomes. The Facilitated Sensemaking Model (FSM) is the first model to guide nursing interventions to help ICU family caregivers overcome and prevent adverse psychological outcomes. We address an understudied phenomenon, communication between patients and family caregivers during mechanical ventilation. The FSM guides supportive interventions for critical care nurses to improve patient-family communication in the ICU. We provide an example of communication intervention, an electronic communication app, within the preexisting FSM.