Paediatrics Publications
Title
Parental Presence at the Bedside of Critically Ill Children in a Unit With Unrestricted Visitation.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2018
Journal
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Volume
19
Issue
8
First Page
387
Last Page
387
URL with Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0000000000001617
Abstract
Objectives
To determine the percentage of time that critically ill children have a parent at the bedside and to identify extrinsic factors that are associated with percent of time with parental presence at the bedside.
Design
Prospective cohort study.
Setting
PICU in a single tertiary care children's hospital.
Subjects
Primary two parents of all children admitted to the PICU on 12 preselected days during a 1-year period from 2014 to 2015.
Interventions
None.
Measurement and Main Results
A total of 111 observations of 108 unique PICU admissions and families were performed. Children had at least one parent present a mean of 58.2% (SD, 34.6%) of the time. Mothers spent more time at the bedside (56.3% [SD, 31.0%]) than fathers (37.3% [SD, 29.5%]) (p = 0.0001). Percent of time with parental presence at the bedside was positively correlated with age (rs = 0.23; p = 0.02) and negatively associated with Pediatric Risk of Mortality III score (rs = -0.26; p = 0.01). Percent of time with parental presence at the bedside was lower for children who were mechanically ventilated (42.8% [SD, 35.5%]) than not (64.5% [SD, 32.2%]) (p = 0.01) and whose parent(s) were single (45.5% [SD, 27.5%]) or cohabitating/common-law (35.7% [SD, 26.4%]) compared with parents who were married (64.2% [SD, 34.2%]) or separated/divorced (68.3% [SD, 28.8%]) (p = 0.02). Percent of time with parental presence at the bedside was higher for children with chronic illnesses (63.4% [SD, 32.9%] vs 50.1% [SD, 35.8%] without; p = 0.04), when there was a bed in the patient room (61.4% [SD, 34.0%] vs 32.5% [SD, 28.3%] without; p = 0.01), and when parents slept in the patient room (90.3% [SD, 11.2%]) compared with their own home (37.6% [SD, 34.4%]) (p < 0.0001). Percent of time with parental presence at the bedside was not correlated with day of PICU stay, number of siblings, previous PICU admission, isolation status, or nursing ratio.
Conclusions
Children had a parent present at the bedside approximately 60% of the time. The parents of younger, sicker children may benefit from supportive interventions during PICU admission. Further research is needed to examine both extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting parental presence at the bedside.
Notes
Article available at Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0000000000001617
Copyright © 2018 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.