Critical illness and intensive care: what it means to the client.

How do people make sense of critical illness and the ICU? What does that experience mean to the patient? These questions are of vital importance in selecting nursing interventions that are appropriate as well as therapeutic. The study of individuals and their experiences can provide a rich and unexpected picture of what it is like to live through a critical illness. This information can increase our understanding of the needs of critically ill patients as well as how people in general make sense of their world.