Benefits of a Safe Pandemic Visitation Policy

Abstract

Open visitation has been severely curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent spread of the virus. Before the pandemic, visitors enjoyed almost unrestricted access to their hospitalized loved ones. These visitors were often a source of support to the health care team, helping us get to know the patient better and helping us communicate effectively with the patient, which improved overall patient safety. These benefits to both patients and the health care team are what Marmo and Milner want us to remember. Marmo and Milner point out the negative impact of restrictive visitation practices on the health care team, as team members became surrogates for families unable to visit. They found that continued restrictions contributed to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, burnout, intent to leave their jobs, and increased violence directed at health care workers. Based on these findings, many believe it is time to develop safe, sensible pandemic visitation policies.We have learned a lot in the past 2 years about what it takes to facilitate safe visitor presence at the patient’s bedside during a pandemic. In addition, several patient-centered care groups have worked hard to provide detailed guidelines for implementing safe family/visitor presence in hospitals during challenging times like these. Developing a safe and sensible pandemic visitation policy is essential, and doing so will benefit the patient, family/visitor, and the health care team.