Practice of family-centred care in intensive care units before the COVID-19-pandemic: A cross-sectional analysis in German-speaking countries

Abstract

Objectives To provide insights into visiting policies and family-centred care practices with a focus on children as visitors in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in German-speaking countries. Methods/ Design Online-survey with a mixed approach were used. Leading clinicians (n=1,943) from German-speaking countries were invited to participate. Outcomes included the percentage of ICUs with open visiting policies, age restrictions, family-centred care activities and barriers. Setting Paediatric, mixed and adult ICUs. Results In total, 19.8% (n=385) of the clinicians responded. Open visiting times were reported by 36.3% (n=117), with significant differences between paediatric (79.2%), adult (21.3%) and mixed-age (41.2%) ICUs (p<001). Two-thirds of clinicians stated that their ICUs had no age restrictions for visiting children as visitors (n=221, 68.4%). The family-centred care activities most frequently implemented were open visiting times and dissemination of information. Significantly more German ICUs have open visiting policies and more Swiss ICUs allow children as visitors, compared to the other countries (both p<0.001). Barriers to family-centred care were concerns about children being traumatized, infection and workload. Conclusion The majority reported that family-centred care policies had been implemented in their ICUs, including open visiting policies, allowing children as visitors without age restriction and other family-centred care activities.

Reflections on the Concomitants of the Restrictive Visitation Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ubuntu Perspective

“…Restrictive visitation policies in a health care facility have been preferred to open visitation policy, which occurs during infectious epidemics or pandemics due to the established benefits of reducing the spread of infections ( Garrouste-Orgeas et al, 2016 ; Brauchle et al, 2021 ; Moss et al, 2021 ). However, it has also been associated with unintended results every time it is implemented ( Raphael et al, 2021 ).…”

Kinder als besuchende Angehörige auf der Erwachsenenintensivstation – Go oder No-Go?

“…Die vollständige Studie wurde im September 2021 durch das englischsprachige Journal "Intensive and Critical Care Nursing" veröffentlicht [18]. Insgesamt haben 385 medizinische Fachpersonen geantwortet, davon 39 % (n = 151) in Deutschland und 73 % (n = 280) im Erwachsenenbereich.…”

Das Intensivtagebuch – ein kommunikativer Brückenschlag

“…Das Konzept des Tagebuchs ist ähnlich: Patient:innen können das Tagebuch später lesen, wenn sie wieder kognitiv dazu in der Lage sind, um die Erinnerungslücken zu füllen, die Erfahrungen zu verstehen und zu lesen, was in anderen Menschen vor sich ging [ 1 ]. Intensivtagebücher wurden in Skandinavien in den 1980er-Jahren entwickelt [ 9 ] und sind mittlerweile weltweit verbreitet, etwa jede fünfte Intensivstation setzt diese patient:innen- und familienfreundliche Intervention um [ 5 , 16 , 17 , 21 , 23 ]. Der Schreibstil der Tagebücher ist einfach, laienverständlich und richtet sich direkt an die Patient:innen (siehe Beispiele in den Infoboxen 1 – 5 ).…”