Letter to the Editor on “Visitation restrictions: is it right and how do we support families in the NICU during COVID 19?”

Murthy, Dhiraj; Nagesh, N Karthik

doi:10.1038/s41372-021-00959-1

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…showed that most relatives felt well informed by healthcare staff, with no difference between the relatives subjected to visiting restrictions and those not. However, some hospitalization wards showed signi cant differences, such as maternity/obstetrics, which was unsurprising and in line with recent publications by Venkatesh et al and Hugelius et al (52,53). Our linear regression model con rmed this, explaining the mild to moderate variance in the affect scores of relatives whose loved ones were hospitalized in general medicine and gynecology/obstetrics wards.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Relatives' experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study

Tacchini-Jacquier

Monnay

Bonvin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries introduced temporary visiting restrictions on the relatives of acute care hospital patients, whether or not they were infected with SARS-CoV-2. This affected relatives’ psychological and emotional states and how closely they could be involved in their loved one’s hospitalization. Study Aims: Investigate relatives’ experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave and of the support offered by Valais Hospital’s healthcare staff. Method: Relatives and patients who had been discharged between February 28 and May 13, 2020, were asked to complete a patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) questionnaire, whether or not they had been infected by SARS-CoV-2. Relatives were asked about how visiting restrictions had affected them, their perceptions of the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the quality of communication concerning their loved ones’ health status during their hospitalization, and the information received from healthcare staff. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed. Results: Of 866 PREMs questionnaires returned, 818 were analyzable, and 543 relatives had experienced visiting restrictions to their loved ones: 92 relatives (87%) of COVID-19 patients and 451 relatives (66%) of non-infected patients, with heterogenous effects on their psychological and affective status. Overall, whether or not relatives were subjected to visiting restrictions, they perceived themselves to be well treated, well informed, and that communication with hospital healthcare staff was satisfactory. However, relatives subjected to visiting restrictions reported significantly lower scores on the quality of communication than other relatives. The relatives of patients in gynecology/obstetrics and internal medicine wards were significantly more affected by visiting restrictions than were the relatives of patients in other wards. Numerous relatives subjected to visiting restrictions reported regular communication with their loved ones or with healthcare staff, at least once a day (n = 179), either via videoconferences using FaceTime®, WhatsApp®, Zoom®, or Skype® or via mobile phone text messages. Discussion Visiting restrictions affected relatives differently depending on the wards their loved ones were hospitalized in. Healthcare institutions should investigate the utility of visiting restrictions on patients, how they affect relatives, and how to improve personalized patient–relative communications.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Relatives' experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study

Tacchini-Jacquier

Monnay

Bonvin

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In opposition to some free comments criticizing a lack of information, our quantitative results showed that most relatives felt well informed by healthcare staff, with no difference between the relatives subjected to visiting restrictions and those not. However, some hospitalization wards showed significant differences, such as maternity/obstetrics, which was unsurprising and in line with recent publications by Venkatesh et al and Hugelius et al [ 52 , 53 ]. Our linear regression model confirmed this, explaining the mild-to-moderate variance in the affect scores of relatives whose loved ones were hospitalized in general medicine and gynecology/obstetrics wards.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Relatives’ experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study in Valais Hospital, Switzerland

Tacchini-Jacquier,

Monnay,

Bonvin

et al. 2023

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries introduced temporary visiting restrictions on the relatives of acute care hospital patients, whether or not they were infected with SARS-CoV-2. This affected relatives’ psychological and emotional states and how closely they could be involved in their loved one’s hospitalization. Study aims Investigate relatives’ experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave and the support offered by Valais Hospital’s healthcare staff. Methods Relatives and patients who had been discharged between February 28 and May 13, 2020, were asked to complete a patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) questionnaire, whether or not they had been infected by SARS-CoV-2. Relatives were asked about how visiting restrictions had affected them, their perceptions of the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the quality of communication concerning their loved ones’ health status during their hospitalization, and the information received from healthcare staff. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed. Results Of 866 PREMs questionnaires returned, 818 were analyzable, and 543 relatives had experienced visiting restrictions to their loved ones: 92 relatives (87%) of COVID-19 patients and 451 relatives (66%) of non-infected patients, with heterogenous effects on their psychological and affective status. Overall, whether or not relatives were subjected to visiting restrictions, they perceived themselves to be well treated, well informed, and that communication with hospital healthcare staff was satisfactory. However, relatives subjected to visiting restrictions reported significantly lower scores on the quality of communication than other relatives. The relatives of patients in gynecology/obstetrics and internal medicine wards were significantly more affected by visiting restrictions than were the relatives of patients in other wards. Numerous relatives subjected to visiting restrictions reported regular communication with their loved ones or with healthcare staff, at least once a day (n = 179), either via videoconferences using FaceTime®, WhatsApp®, Zoom®, or Skype® or via mobile phone text messages. Conclusion Visiting restrictions affected relatives differently depending on the wards their loved ones were hospitalized. Healthcare institutions should investigate the utility of visiting restrictions on patients, how they affect relatives, and how to improve personalized patient–relative communications. Future research should attempt to develop reliable, validated measurement instruments of relatives’ experiences of acute-care visiting restrictions during pandemics.

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“…Although there is strong evidence to support the concept that reduced visitation policies have been detrimental to infant–parent bonding, breastfeeding, and parental access to services to support their mental health, it is important to acknowledge that they are implemented to protect patients and staff and the general public. Venkatesh Murthy and Karthik Nagesh ( 2021 ) point out that lack of visitation restrictions also pose serious threat to infants, families, and staff due to a number of factors, including overcrowding (not allowing for social distancing), more opportunities for breaches in policies related to masks, and increased likelihood of asymptomatic individuals being present for longer periods of time and exposing infants, staff, and other visitor to the coronavirus. However, NICUs with architectural designs that allowed for more distancing between patients with individual rooms or pods required less visitation restrictions than those with open designs, which has implications for architectural design of NICUs in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation of infant mental health services to preterm infants and their families receiving neonatal intensive care unit services during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Kelleher

Dempsey

Takamatsu

et al. 2022

Infant Mental Health Journal

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Multiple changes and stressors at the family, hospital, and societal levels have resulted from the COVID‐19 pandemic that impact the early social environment of infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) settings. This manuscript reviews these pandemic‐related adversities, including hospital‐wide visitor restrictions, mask requirements that interfere with caregiver facial expressions, parental anxiety about virus transmission, and reduced support services. We will further describe adaptations to mental health service delivery and approaches to care in the NICU to mitigate increased risk associated with pandemic‐related adversities. Adaptations include integration of technology, staff education and support, and delivery of activity kits to encourage parent–infant bonding. Data was collected as part of routine program evaluation of infant mental health services from one 50‐bed NICU setting and describes family concerns, barriers to visitation, and utilization of mental health services during the pandemic. Concerns related to COVID‐19 rarely emerged as the primary presenting issue by the families referred for infant mental health services from April through December of 2020. However, a number of families indicated that infection concerns and visitation restrictions posed significant challenges to their parenting and/or coping. There were significant discrepancies noted between the visitation patterns of families with public and private insurance. Several adaptations were developed in response to the multiple challenges and threats to infant mental health present during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

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Letter to the Editor on “Visitation restrictions: is it right and how do we support families in the NICU during COVID 19?”

Cited by 3 publications

References 6 publications

Relatives' experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study

Relatives' experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study

Relatives’ experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study in Valais Hospital, Switzerland

Adaptation of infant mental health services to preterm infants and their families receiving neonatal intensive care unit services during the COVID‐19 pandemic

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