Family Presence During Invasive and Resuscitation Procedures: The Attitudes of Israeli Emergency Nurses

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Whether to allow family presence or not is the subject of sharp controversy among health care professionals. The factors which the professional literature shows influence support for the idea are type of job, seniority, social pressure at the workplace, training, cultural background and the degree of invasiveness of the procedure. The researchers thought that emergency nurses’ own attitudes on the issue of family presence, together with their own perceived behavioral control, and the susceptibility of these factors to peer and family pressure, could affect their wish and intent to encourage family presence.

Methods: A structured self-completed questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 80 emergency nurses. Pearson correlation coefficients and regression analysis were used to test the two hypotheses designed to verify the researchers’ thinking.

Results: Both hypotheses were confirmed.

Discussion: Subjective factors operating in and on nurses’ minds can practically affect the likelihood that they will promote family presence in the resuscitation room. By postulating such new factors and relationships and objectively confirming their relevance, the study has opened up new horizons for other researchers to investigate more deeply and precisely.

Keywords:

Emergency room nursing, family presence, patients’ privacy, social pressure, perceived behavioral control.