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The number of patients in the intensive care unit is on an increasing trend, which results from the modern society with its complicated structure and for the diversified aspects of modern diseases. Most patients in the intensive care unit were in the serious conditions without consciousness, so their death rate was high. But nowadays many patients entering intensive care unit consist of open heart surgery, cardiopulmonary disease and Medical-surgical department who are conscious. These conscious patients in the intensive care unit feel uncomfortable. This is the serious problem which is non the rise. It is main point of this thesis to offer the basic data to the nursing which can decrease the uncomfortableness of the conscious patients in the intnensivecare unit in the present situation lacking the studies about the patients in the intensive care unit. In this phenomenological study the various discomfortness felt by them are collected and classified. The study subject were a convenience sample of 25 patients who admitted at ICU in a general hospital in Seoul. They are conscious, so they can communicate without difficulties. The data was collected during 67 days from July 24 to September 30, 1992. The subjects were interviewed with unstructured open questions and the interviews were tape recorded with their permission. The date was analysed by Van Kaams phenomenological method. The reliability and the validity were assured by one doctoral candidate three researchers with master’s degree, and one head nurse, and staff nurse with master’s degree. The results of the study are summarized as follows. 1. Intensive care unit patient’s 120 descriptive statements of discomfortness were organized into 15 theme. 2. The 15 themes were divided into 4 categories : physical, psychological, sociological and environmental aspects. 3. The problems concerning the physical aspects are uncomfortableness of the medical devices attached to the patient’s body, restriction of movements and pain resulting from the diseases. The problems concerning the psychological aspects are the unacceptable hospitalization it self in the intensive care unit, worries about prognosis deterioration of the self respect resulting from the unpersonal treatment, tedium from the long hospitalization, and regretfulness resulting from dependency. The problems concerning social aspects are loneliness, influence from the neighboring patients, and dissatisfaction with medical personals. The problems concerning environmental aspects are noise, diffuseness, dirtiness, and non-adaptation to the structure of the ward. From the above views, discomfortness which patients are experienced in ICU Room is various with physical, psychological, sociological, environmental aspects. It must be emphasized the necessity for holistic care which satisfied the physical psychological, sociological, economical, educational need so as to solve the discomfortness.
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