One hundred consecutive patients were interviewed
between the 3rd and 7th days, inclusive, of their
discharge from an intensive care unit to a general ward.
The patients' recall of events related to their admission to
the ICU was generally poor, and 41% of them felt that
they had been confused at some time during their stay
though much of this seems to have passed unnoticed by
the nursing staff. Lack of sleep was a problem to about a
quarter of the patients and 75% of these thought that the
inability to lie comfortably was a factor preventing sleep.
Other factors included pain, anxiety and noise. The patients
seemed satisfied whilst in the ICU, and less than
half said they were pleased to return to a general ward.