Eliminating visitation restrictions in intensive care units improves family satisfaction, according to a study published in the January issue of American Journal of Critical Care.
Here are three things to know about the study.
1. The study concluded eliminating even minimal restrictions on visitation hours improved family satisfaction and improved nurses' perceptions of family satisfaction with the visitation policy. Nurses' satisfaction stayed the same.
2. The researchers, led by Diane Chapman, RN, BSN, CCRN, surveyed critical care nurses and family members who were visiting patients in an intensive care unit at Murray, Utah-based Intermountain Medical Center before and after the implementation of an unrestricted patient visitation policy, according to a news release. Under the new policy, visitors can come anytime, limited only by patient preference and clinical status. The previous policy, though, restricted visits only during a 90-minute period each morning and evening during the shift change for nurses.
3. The researchers specifically surveyed 103 family members (50 before and 53 after the change in visitation guidelines) and 128 nurses (61 before and 67 after the change in visitation guidelines). The pre-policy-change phase of the study was conducted from Jan. 16 to Jan. 26, 2012. The post-policy-change phase of the study was conducted from Aug. 13 to Oct. 9, 2012. Overall, they found unrestricted visitation hours significantly improved family members' satisfaction with the convenience of visitation hours and waiting room ambiance, and nurses' perceptions of families' satisfaction also improved.
"The term 'visiting hours' is obsolete due to the growing evidence related to the wide-ranging benefits of open access for ICU families," Senior author Samuel Brown, MD, director of Intermountain Healthcare's Center for Humanizing Critical Care at Intermountain Medical Center, said in a news release. "Numerous studies have shown that more liberal visitation policies lead to improved family, patient and nurse satisfaction without representing a safety risk. In fact, studies have suggested that patients do better medically when their families are free to accompany them during their ICU stay."