The needs of children visiting on adult intensive care units: a review of the literature and recommendations for practice

Abstract

The implications for practice are discussed and recommendations for further research are made.

Dominant Strategies of Patient Visiting in Selected Intensive Care Units in Iran

“…Criticizing restricted visiting, Clarke and Harrison state that nurses exercise a considerable deal of power and control by restricting visiting while skilled care should not be merely aimed at controlling and dominating the ward but at improving the conditions of patients and families (20).…”

Family Visitation in the Adult Intensive Care Unit

“…These biases are not grounded in evidence or based on the patient's or the child's actual needs. 8,[42][43][44] Rather, when allowed to visit relatives in the ICU, properly prepared children exhibit less negative behavior and fewer emotional changes than do children who do not visit. [45][46][47][48] It is recommended that children be allowed to visit unless they carry contagious illnesses.…”

Visita de crianças em unidade de terapia intensiva

“…(10) In France, 54% allowed children from eight years-old on, and in Swiss, 66% of the ICUs had no restrictions. (5) The restrictions to children visits to adult ICUs are often based on the fear of exposing the child to hospital infection, (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) However there is no literature evidence of this. In a multicenter quantitative trial (11) aimed to understand the reasons provided by the teams for restricting children visits to adult ICUs, 36% answered that their main reason was fear of infection.…”

“…However, some of these respondents mentioned that both physicians and nurses use this explanation to disguise a certain emotional unpreparedness to deal with children who have severely ill relatives in the unity. Other authors, (3,7,11) mention that the team is not able to deal with these visits emotional requirements.…”

“…(3,6,7,11) On the other hand, other studies conducted by nurses show that explaining to the child what he/she is about to see and experience would prevent eventual traumas. (3,7,8,11,12) Several studies (2,3,5,11) have shown that a child's visit to a relative in ICU is fundamental, as the child's anxiety, abandonment and fear of death feelings are found reduced after the visit; in addition, having a notion of the disease, the child becomes participant in the hospitalization process. (7,8) Nicholson et al (2,3) studied a sample of 20 children, divided in two groups.…”