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I’ve been a critical care nurse for 41 years. I take care of our sickest patients on a one-to-one basis, which allows me the time and opportunity to be involved with patient care and to address the emotional needs of the patient’s family. I feel compelled to ask Twibell and colleagues¹ why certain questions were not asked that would have yielded more accurate data in their study.

I am referring to the need for all bedside nurses to translate their philosophical precepts into time-motion priority every day with every assignment. Although many would embrace the opportunity to stand by their patient’s family and support them through a difficult process, thereby providing closure for all, there remain the urgent needs of their other patients and no influx of additional staff to cover them. Many "medical" people respond to codes to observe or to attempt to perform some of the skills under the direction of teaching staff, but those clinicians are not the ones you’re asking about family presence. I believe nurses appear negative about this issue simply because they cannot foresee a way to stay at the bedside for as long as it takes and still fulfill their responsibility to their other patients, who most likely are equally upset by the emergency actions going on around them.

Anne M. Dalio, RN, ADN, CCRN
Sparta, New Jersey

REFERENCE

1. Twibell RS, Siela D, Riwitis C, et al. Nurses’ perceptions of their self-confidence and the benefits and risks of family presence during resuscitation. Am J Crit Care. 2008;17(2):101–112.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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