Nurses can determine if a patient’s family
members are ready for the conference or if they
need more time; having family conferences too
early in the ICU stay has been associated with more
PTSD symptoms.33 In addition, ensuring that these
meetings are run without conflict, unprofessional
behavior, or poor communication among the ICU
staff, behaviors associated with psychological symptoms
in family members,34 may help lessen family
members’ symptoms. Future research with a larger
sample is warranted to determine the long-term
effects of end-of-life conferences and preferences
for a role as decision maker on family members’
psychological symptoms.