Evaluation of a new program: pediatric parental visitation in the postanesthesia care unit

PACU staff members have long resisted the implementation of parental visitation in the PACU despite its apparent psychological benefit to pediatric patients. This resistance can be attributed to the belief that parents would interfere with care, that they would reduce other patient's privacy, and that their presence would increase nursing work load. After 3 months' experience with pediatric parental visitation, the nurses and physicians at Coral Springs Medical Center discovered these beliefs to be groundless. Indeed, 95% of staff felt the program should continue, 100% of adult patients felt their privacy was well maintained, and 89% of staff stated that parental visitation had made their job easier. An audit of patient records showed that need for narcotics and length of stay was unaffected by visitation and that pediatric patient discomfort as measured by frequency of patient crying decreased by 54%.