Should a loved one be allowed in the resuscitation room? The times they are A-changin'

Journal of Clinical Ethics

Volumn 15, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 243-249

  Micco, Guy ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EMERGENCY MEDICINE; FAMILY; HEALTH CARE PERSONNEL; HEALTH PRACTITIONER; HEALTH SURVEY; HUMAN; NURSING; PSYCHOTRAUMA; RESUSCITATION; REVIEW;

EMPIRICAL APPROACH; PROFESSIONAL PATIENT RELATIONSHIP;

ATTITUDE OF HEALTH PERSONNEL; DELIVERY ROOMS; FAMILY; FATHERS; FEMALE; HUMANS; INFANT, NEWBORN; MALE; PATIENT SATISFACTION; PREGNANCY; RESUSCITATION; VISITORS TO PATIENTS;

EID: 10444289905     PISSN: 10467890     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (35)

1. R.N. Rutherford, "Fathers in the delivery room - long experience molds one viewpoint," Hospital Topics 44, no. 1 (1966): 97-102.
2. J.S. Miller, "'Return the joy of home delivery' with fathers in the delivery room," Hospital Topics 44, no. 1 (1966): 105-9.
3. C.W. Aldridge, "Initial Experiences with Fathers in the Delivery Room," Michigan Medicine 69, no. 11 (1970): 489-91.
4. C.Y. Shu, "Husband-father in delivery room? Obstretricians hold divergent views about permitting a husband-father to witness the birth of his child," Hospitals (journal of the American Hospital Association (16 September 1973): 90-4.
5. I will use the term "family" or "family member" as shorthand for anyone who is close to the patient, including a spouse, child, parent, or close friend.
6. S. Adams et al., "Should relatives be allowed to watch resuscitation?" British Medical Journal 308, no. 6945 (1994): 1687-92; S.M. Robinson et al., "Psychological effect of witnessed resuscitation on bereaved relatives," Lancet 352, no. 9128 (1998): 614-7; E. Tsai, "Should Family Members Be Present During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?" New England Journal of Medicine 346, no. 13 (2002): 1019-21.
7. S. Adams et al., "Should relatives be allowed to watch resuscitation?" British Medical Journal 308, no. 6945 (1994): 1687-92; S.M. Robinson et al., "Psychological effect of witnessed resuscitation on bereaved relatives," Lancet 352, no. 9128 (1998): 614-7; E. Tsai, "Should Family Members Be Present During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?" New England Journal of Medicine 346, no. 13 (2002): 1019-21.
8. S. Adams et al., "Should relatives be allowed to watch resuscitation?" British Medical Journal 308, no. 6945 (1994): 1687-92; S.M. Robinson et al., "Psychological effect of witnessed resuscitation on bereaved relatives," Lancet 352, no. 9128 (1998): 614-7; E. Tsai, "Should Family Members Be Present During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?" New England Journal of Medicine 346, no. 13 (2002): 1019-21.
9. Emergency Nurses Association, "Position Statement: Family Presence at the Bedside During Invasive Procedures and Resuscitation," http://www.ena.org/publications/statements/positionpdf/familypresence.pdf, accessed August 2004.
10. American Heart Association, "Ethical Aspects of CPR and ECC," Circulation 102, supp. 8 (2000): I12-21.
11. F. Barratt and D.N. Wallis, "Relatives in the resuscitation room: their point of view," Journal of Accident and Emergency Medicine 15, no. 2 (1998): 109-11;
12. T.A. Meyers et al., "Family Presence During Invasive Procedures and Resuscitation: The Experience of Family Members, Nurses, and Physicians," Topics in Emergency Medicine 26, no. 1 (2004): 61-73;
13. also the article by Berger et al., "Do Potential Recipients of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Want their Members to Attend?" in this issue of JCE and the above references for multiple studies documenting family desires and benefit.
14. C. Hanson and D. Strawser, "Family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Foote Hospital emergency department's nine-year perspective," Journal of Emergency Nursing 18, no. 2 (1992): 104-6. In one case, a person who rode in the ambulance during resuscitation refused to leave the patient. In the other, the wife of a police officer who had been shot begged to enter the resuscitation room to be with her husband.
15. C.J. Doyle et al., "Family participation during resuscitation: an option," Annals of Emergency Medicine 6 (1985): 107-9.
16. Hanson and Strawser, see note 10 above.
17. D.J. Eichhorn et al., "Opening the doors: Family presence during resuscitation," Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing 10, no. 4 (1996): 59-70; T.A. Meyers et al., see note 9 above.
18. ENA, see note 7 above.
19. Myers et al., "Family presence," see note 9 above.
20. I b i d.
21. M.B. Pafford, "Should family members be present during CPR?" Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society 98, no. 9 (2002): 304-6.
22. B.M. McClenathan, K.G. Torrington, and C.F. Uyehara, "Family member presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A survey of US and international critical care professionals," Chest 122, no. 6 (2002): 2204-11.
23. A.S. Grice, P. Picton, and C.D. Deakin, "Study examining attitudes of staff, patients and relatives to witnessed resuscitation in adult intensive care units," British Journal of Anaesthesiology 91, no. 6 (2003): 820-4.
24. Robinson et al., see note 6 above.
25. D.J. Eichhorn et al., "During invasive procedures and resuscitation: hearing the voice of the patient," American Journal of Nursing 101, no. 5 (2001): 48-55.
26. Meyers et al., "Family presence," see note 9 above.
27. Grice et al., see note 19 above.
28. M. Benjamin, J. Holger, and M. Carr, "Personal Preferences Regarding Family Member Presence during Resuscitation," Academic Emergency Medicine 11, no. 7 (2004): 750-3.
29. For reassurance on this point, see T.L. Tucker, "Family presence during resuscitation," Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America 14 (2002): 177-85; and Robinson et al., see note 6 above. For good anecdotes to the contrary, see the following letters to the editor: R.J. Schilling, "Should relatives watch resuscitation? No room for spectators," British Medical Journal 309, no. 6951 (1994): 406; A.P. Manista, "Should family members be present during cardiopulmonary resuscitation?" New England Journal of Medicine 347, no. 6 (2002): 451.
30. For reassurance on this point, see T.L. Tucker, "Family presence during resuscitation," Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America 14 (2002): 177-85; and Robinson et al., see note 6 above. For good anecdotes to the contrary, see the following letters to the editor: R.J. Schilling, "Should relatives watch resuscitation? No room for spectators," British Medical Journal 309, no. 6951 (1994): 406; A.P. Manista, "Should family members be present during cardiopulmonary resuscitation?" New England Journal of Medicine 347, no. 6 (2002): 451.
31. For reassurance on this point, see T.L. Tucker, "Family presence during resuscitation," Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America 14 (2002): 177-85; and Robinson et al., see note 6 above. For good anecdotes to the contrary, see the following letters to the editor: R.J. Schilling, "Should relatives watch resuscitation? No room for spectators," British Medical Journal 309, no. 6951 (1994): 406; A.P. Manista, "Should family members be present during cardiopulmonary resuscitation?" New England Journal of Medicine 347, no. 6 (2002): 451.
32. Robinson et al., see note 6 above.
33. R. Boyd and S. White, "Does witnessed cardiopulmonary resuscitation alter perceived stress in accident and emergency staff?" European Journal of Emergency Medicine 7, no. 1 (2000): 51-3.
34. Emergency Nurses Association, see note 7 above.
35. Foote Hospital emergency department nurse, personal communication with the author, August 2004.