A Systematic Review of Young Sibling Visitation Policies in the NICU

Abstract

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a very busy and delicate setting. It is important to delineate if the benefits of sibling bonding outweigh the risk infecting these fragile infants as many NICUs have different policies regarding sibling visitation. In this systematic review of the literature, 9 studies were located using the included using the PRISMA model. Of those, only one determined that sibling visitation increases infection rates, and most found that visitation is psychologically beneficial to the older sibling. Very little research on this topic has been conducted in the 21st century, so the strength of the evidence is questionable. Further research is needed to determine if certain screening protocols, informative posters, or other confounding variables may affect infection rates and skew the data. With this information, NICUs around the world could adopt the most evidence-based visitation policy that is beneficial to the family and the baby.