Introduction

the intensive care unit is a hospital area where people with serious health conditions are cared for, however the complexity of care is not only given by this aspect but by the family's care needs; which must be seen as a unit; Currently, there is little literature on care interventions in this area because there is interdisciplinary work within it, requiring an approach to the empirical care that nursing performs in this setting.

Objective

to identify nursing care activities to satisfy family needs in adult intensive care units.

Methodology

an integrative review was carried out based on the Whittermore and Knafl parameters, of articles published between 2008 and 2018, in the databases: EBSCOhost, LILACS, MEDLINE, Science Direct, Scielo, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library, the results were organized according to the PRISMA declaration.

Results

16 articles derived from quantitative, qualitative and review research were included; which describe activities for the care of the adult family. The activities found are organized based on the proposal that Nancy Molter makes about the needs of Security, Information, proximity, comfort and support that the family presents in the intensive care unit.

Conclusion

taking care of the needs of the adult family in intensive care units allows the patient and his family to be encompassed as an integral and unitary being, in order to maintain family health and prevent crises in them.

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