Protecting the Privacy of Patients With Impaired Consciousness in Intensive Care: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND

Maintaining privacy in intensive care units (ICUs) is challenging because of high workload, invasive procedures, continuous monitoring and shared care environments. Patients with impaired consciousness may be particularly vulnerable because their ability to express privacy preferences, assert personal boundaries and advocate for themselves is limited.

AIM: To explore intensive care nurses' experiences of protecting privacy when caring for patients with impaired consciousness.

STUDY

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with 20 intensive care nurses in Türkiye between March and April 2026. Data were collected through semi-structured online interviews and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The study was reported in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines.

FINDINGS: Four themes were identified: the marginalisation of privacy under clinical priorities; structural and process-related constraints on privacy in intensive care; loss of subjectivity and the mechanisation of care in patients with impaired consciousness; and ethical and psychosocial implications of privacy violations.

CONCLUSIONS

Privacy in intensive care is shaped not only by individual ethical awareness but also by workload, environmental conditions, care routines and communication practices. Patients with impaired consciousness have the same rights to privacy and dignity as other patients; however, their reduced ability to express preferences, assert personal boundaries and advocate for themselves may make privacy violations less visible and increase their dependence on nurses for protection.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Protecting the privacy of patients with impaired consciousness in ICUs requires structured care routines, standardised bedside communication, minimisation of unnecessary exposure during procedures and targeted ethical awareness training to support dignity in everyday practice.