Identifier: TFG:920
Authors: Marco Pérez, Paula
Abstract:
ABSTRACT Introduction: The visitation in Intensive Care Units is very restrictive, which leads to the separation of the family with the medical team and the patient. In recent years, it has started a current in favour of a more flexible visitation schedule, as several articles point out that open visiting brings benefits for both the family and the patient. It also allows families to participate in the daily activities of the ICU, which helps their adaptation to the situation that the patient is going through. Objective: To carry out a bibliographic review of the influence of flexible visits in the Intensive Care Unit about the needs of critically ill patients and their families. Methods: A bibliographic review was conducted and the most current scientific literature in PubMed, Scopus, Cuiden, Scielo, Cuidatge, Icerc@dorPlus academic Google and the repository of the URV data were analysed. It was also made a manual search from other items. Results: After including articles that met the selection criteria, 22 articles were selected. From the analysis of these items, they were identified the main needs of relatives of critically ill patients, the benefits of a system of open visits and professional opinion on this subject. Discussion: One of the main needs of the family is to receive more information from professionals, followed by the need for proximity. Moreover, visits to the ICU contribute to the comfort of the patient, minimize the traumatic experience and reduce anxiety for both patient and family. Instead, health professionals are reluctant to open visits regime, although they support the extension of visiting hours. Conclusions: The visitation policy is restrictive in Spain, there is a culture of closed ICU where relatives are not involved in patient care, leading to increase their insecurity.
Repositori URV