An audit of completion of diaries for rehabilitation in an intensive care unit.

Intensive care unit (ICU) diaries are increasingly being used in UK hospitals as a therapeutic means to address the psychological effects of an ICU stay on patients. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that services are developed to meet the psychological needs of patients following critical illness. This article discusses ICU diaries as a service to meet these needs. There is a greater demand for evidence-based research to support the positive effects of the diaries. Equally, there is a need to highlight the negative impact they may have on patients who would not wish to have a diary because of the traumatic experience of critical illness. To gain an insight into the use of patient diaries, an audit was conducted at one ICU, which found compliance with completing them was poor. This article gives an overview of the available literature. Recommendations are made to improve the use of ICU diaries for clinical practice in the future.