Family support in intensive care units during COVID-19 visit ban: A multinational Delphi Study during first COVID-19 wave.
Marie-Madlen Jeitziner, Béatrice Jenni-Moser, Bjoern Zante and 6 others
PMID 35985909WHAT IT FOUND
ICU staff, patients and families agreed that during visiting bans, regular phone or video calls, clear information, documented contact, and allowing visits for dying patients are essential.
These are expert recommendations, not tested patient outcomes.
Key findings
0192.8% of respondents rated regular phone calls to family members during the pandemic as important.
0298.9% of respondents rated allowing family visits for dying patients during a visiting ban as important.
03Experts disagreed with four ideas: pre-pandemic routine video calls, text chats with families, photos of ventilated patients, and secure e-mail photos.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a Delphi consensus survey, not a trial or observational study of patient outcomes. Only two rounds were used to avoid burden. Family members and patients were not involved in designing the first questionnaire. Very few former patients and family members participated (2 former patients and 6 family members in the first round). The paper reports 131 second-round participants, but the second-round statement table shows 111 answers. Participants were mainly from Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein; only French-speaking Switzerland was included. It was not possible to check which participants took part in both rounds.
Declared interests
No funding. Authors declare no competing financial interests or personal relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these recommendations as evidence that phone or video calls improve patient or family outcomes. The study reports expert agreement, not tested interventions or measured effects.