Open Bedside Rounds for Families With Children in Pediatric Intensive Care Units

Abstract

arents of children in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) place great importance on receiving information about their children’s condition, having their questions answered, and talking with the physicians in charge of their children’s care. 1 Although nurses often bridge the communication gap between parents and physicians, patients’ families understandably want the opportunity to speak directly with physicians about the medical plan of care. In the PICU at Children’s Hospital of Iowa in Iowa City, the family visiting policy was a major obstacle to sharing information between parents and the physicians in a timely manner. Because families were not allowed to stay in the unit during medical rounds, nurses often felt “caught in the middle” between parents and physicians. When parents were allowed to reenter the unit after rounds, the physicians were busy with procedures, admissions, or rounds with other patients until late in the afternoon. Although the nurses could answer some of the parents’ questions, they did not have all of the information and thought that it was inappropriate for them to discuss prognosis or specific medical treatment options with the parents. In order to meet the parents’ need for communication and to alleviate the nurses’ discomfort with feeling caught in the middle, a group of PICU staff