Visitation policies and practices in US ICUs

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Hospital Administration
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Restrictive ICU visitation policies may negatively affect patients and their families.
• Limited data exists on current ICU visitation practices in the US and associated hospital factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe visitation policies in US intensive care units (ICUs).
• To identify hospital characteristics associated with ICU visitation restrictions.

Main Methods:

• A 2008-2009 telephone survey of 606 US hospitals, stratified by region and hospital type.
• Data collected on hospital characteristics and ICU visitation restrictions (visiting hours, duration, number/age of visitors, family membership).
• Policies were categorized as restrictive or open.

Main Results:

• The majority of hospitals (76.4%) and ICUs (89.6%) had restrictive visitation policies.
• Most ICUs (61.9%) had three or more restrictions, commonly concerning visiting hours and visitor numbers/age.
• Open visitation was more prevalent in smaller hospitals (<150 beds).
• Midwest hospitals had the least restrictive policies, while Northeast hospitals had the most.

Conclusions:

• In 2008, most US ICUs implemented restrictive visitation policies.
• Significant variability exists in ICU visitation policies across US hospitals.
• Further investigation is required to understand the impact of visitation on patient care and outcomes to inform practice standardization.