Developing Family Visitation Guidelines to Enhance the Patients Perioperative Experience

Abstract

Facilitating family visitation throughout perioperative phases of care has been controversial due to obstacles inherent of this setting. However, literature demonstrates facilitating family visitation can be beneficial to patient outcomes and is supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Institute of Medicine and the American Society of Perianesthesia Nurses. Consequently, hospitals are challenged to develop and implement policies and procedures supporting family visitation.