[Patient, family, nurses and intensive care unit: review of the literature and state of a practice "in the field"].

An increasing interest in psychological and interactional aspects of intensive care unit stay is found in the recent literature. On one hand, seriousness and acuteness of the pathology, on the other hand, environment specificity as well as their respective consequences result in the fact that the ICU is a peculiar context for the patient and his family. The patient experiences a stressful event which probably differs from the one experienced in other types of wards. The family and its needs during this critical period are the focus of an increasing number of studies. A corresponding occupational stress for the caregivers is now widely acknowledged.