TABLE 4.

Patient and Family Feedback on ICU Doulas

Patient Perspective Themes (No. of Responses)	Specific Examples
Positive interaction with team/feeling cared for (15)	Starting to feel better, caring people, holding hands
	Everyone was very helpful and attentive
	Help from the care team
Being comforted/feeling secure (8)	Talking with me, showing empathy, care, holding my hand
	Feeling more secure about living ability
	Very, very comforting. They kept up to date on what the plan was and what was happening
Reassurance/explanations of medical course (5)	Both doulas and staff. More doulas than staff. That connection helped put me at ease and feel less frightened
	People explaining things
Family perspective—what they liked (number of responses)	They were very compassionate
	Very calming soothing talks, great explanation of events
	Soothing, comforting, informative from a nonmedical person
	All aspects of it (3)
	Liked them spending time in their visits with us when he was sick
	Helped to understand what was going on
	They focused on helping him with his anxiety—talking about his breathing and being safe!
Family perspective—how communication with doula helped you	Did a nice job of answering questions or finding answers of questions
	Was good to hear how he was able to answer that his memory is okay
	They explained things and helped Ron and me get through this difficult time
	Reassurance
	Helped with dad's anxiety. They had a bad nurse one day, and Amanda went in and gave them hugs and that really helped them
	Provided comfort for my mom
	Everyone is so nice and polite. The team had the decisions made were done in front of the patient. That transparency was very helpful for his recovery
	Showing a very caring team approach to care