• Lorri M Phipps, Cheryl N Bartke, Debra A Spear, Linda F Jones, Carolyn P Foerster, Marie E Killian, Jennifer R Hughes, Joseph C Hess, David R Johnson, and Neal J Thomas.
• Division of Nursing, Department of Pediatrics, Penn State Children's Hospital, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2007 May 1; 8 (3): 220-4.

ObjectiveThere is a paucity of literature evaluating the effects of family member presence during bedside medical rounds in the pediatric intensive care unit. We hypothesized that, when compared with rounds without family members, parental presence during morning medical rounds would increase time spent on rounds, decrease medical team teaching/education, increase staff dissatisfaction, create more stress in family members, and violate patient privacy in our open unit.DesignProspective, blinded, observational study.SettingAcademic pediatric intensive care unit with 12 beds.ParticipantsA total of 105 admissions were studied, 81 family members completed a survey, and 187 medical team staff surveys were completed.InterventionsInvestigators documented parental presence and time allocated for presentation, teaching, and answering questions. Surveys related to perception of goals, teaching, and privacy of rounds were distributed to participants.MeasurementsTime spent on rounds, time spent teaching on rounds, and medical staff and family perception of the effects of parental presence on rounds.ResultsThere was no significant difference between time spent on rounds in the presence or absence of family members (p = NS). There is no significant difference between the time spent teaching by the attending physician in the presence or absence of family members (p = NS). Overall, parents reported that the medical team spent an appropriate amount of time discussing their child and were not upset by this discussion. Parents did not perceive that their own or their child's privacy was violated during rounds. The majority of medical team members reported that the presence of family on rounds was beneficial.ConclusionsParental presence on rounds does not seem to interfere with the educational and communication process. Parents report satisfaction with participation in rounds, and privacy violations do not seem to be a concern from their perspective.

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