Visiting Hours in the ICU:

1
Visiting Hours in the ICU

• Finding the Balance among Patient, Visitor, and
  Staff Needs

2
Research Problem

• Family visiting is literally a daily occurrence
  in critical care units, yet little is known about
  the phenomenon from the perspective of nurses who
  are at the bedside.
• ?

3
Research Problem

• The problem is clearly defined as a knowledge gap
  regarding critical care nursing perspective and
  the presence of visitors.
• The literature review addresses the history of
  visiting policies and the role of the nurse as
  the primary gate keeper in the ICU.

4
Research Purpose

• To explore the experience of nurses who have been
  identified as experts working with visitors in
  critical care settings.
• The purpose is stated as a research question
  rather than a hypothesis.
• ???

5
Study Design

• Qualitative research design with in-depth
  interviews of eight ICU nurses, participant
  observation, and document review.
• The study is descriptive in nature and seeks to
  give light to the nurses experience communicating
  with visitors.

6
Study Design Continued.

• Nurses noticed increased heart rate, blood
  pressure, and incidence of fatigue in the
  patients with visitors.
• Some nurses felt visitor anxiety was transferred
  to the patient.
• The presence of anxious visitors with multiple
  questions interfered with the nurses ability to
  complete work and increased the possibility for
  errors.

7
Strengths/ Weaknesses of Study

• Strengths
• The interviews were very detailed
• The literature review was appropriate and
  complete.
• The study was reliable and valid.
• Interviewees were credible.
• Weaknesses
• The study utilized a small sample size.

8
Ethical Considerations

• Informed consent was obtained from all of the
  nurse participants.
• No patients were involved in the interview
  process.
• Patient safety was always a priority when dealing
  with visitors.
• The interviews were conducted when the nurses
  were not scheduled to work and therefore patient
  care was not interrupted.

9
Implications for Nursing Practice

• Individualize visitor policy based on individual
  patient needs.
• Monitor patient response to visitors (i.e. vital
  signs, stated preference, and fatigue)
• Always place the patients needs before visitor
  needs.
• Send visitors out of the room for procedures to
  prevent errors, but allow participation if
  appropriate (i.e. bed bath, oral care,
  positioning, etc.)
• Patient and nurse satisfaction

10

• Visiting Hours in the ICU Finding the Balance
  among Patient, Visitor and Staff Needs can be
  found at http//search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direc
  ttruedbhchan16674692