[Variable assessment of intensive medical care by patients with acute myocardial infarct and by the nursing staff].

We investigated the assessment for intensive care in 63 consecutive patients (aged below 75 years) hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) because of an acute myocardial infarction. A questionnaire was answered by the patients immediately after leaving the ICU and by 25 nurses who were asked to complete the test from the patients' point of view. Three patients and 5 nurses refused to answer. The two groups differed in the assessment of many items concerning intensive care. Hospitalization and transfer to the ICU, the first emergency measures and continuous monitoring were regarded as reassuring by the patients but not by the nurses. Further differences concerned invasive therapeutic or diagnostic measures, the effect of analgesic drugs, the ward round and transfer out of the unit. Factors experienced as especially unpleasant by patients were uncertainty about the danger they were in, venous catheterization and bowel movements in bed. From the assessment of the ICU by the patients, conclusions can be drawn with a view to improving patient care.