What the patients say: A study of reactions to an intensive care unit.

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.