Visiting hours in the ICU: finding the balance among patient, visitor and staff needs

Visiting hours.

To explore the experience of nurses who have been identified as experts at working with visitors in a critical care setting.

A qualitative research design incorporating in-depth interviews of eight intensive care nurses, limited participant observation, and a review of selected documents was used to investigate how expert nurses incorporate visitors into their daily practice.

Incorporating visiting family members in to the plan of care is complex and requires balancing the visitors' needs for information and access to a loved one with the nurse's need to safely manage the care of a critically ill individual.