Abstract
Family System Nursing (FSN) is now being implemented at an institutional level at Landspitali University Hospital (LUH) in Reykjavik. The main aim of the implementation process is to improve quality of care and patients'/families' satisfaction with the healthcare service. Few nursing intervention studies have, however, been conducted within a hospital unit on the effectiveness of a family-level intervention. The purpose of the study is to present the effectiveness of a short therapeutic conversation intervention for families of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Participants in this quasi-experimental study consisted of family members of COPD patients in a pulmonary unit (N=30); 15 family members participated in the experimental group (EG) and 15 in the control group (CG). Of the sample, 8 were men and 22 were women; their ages ranged between 19–60 years. On average, the conversation intervention for the families in the experimental group lasted 23 minutes. Families in the control group received traditional care. The main findings indicated that family members who received the short therapeutic conversation intervention reported significantly higher family support compared to the families who received the traditional care. It was concluded that families of individuals with chronic lung diseases such as COPD might benefit from additional support from nurses when caring for their loved ones who are dealing with very complex healthcare situations.