Capstone Project: Preliminary Literature Review

Capstone Project Preliminary Literature Review
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Capstone Project Preliminary Literature Review
Part I. Preliminary Literature Review
Recently, the policies of restricted visitation in intensive care units (ICUs) have attracted moral debates about the rights of patients and their families. Patients in ICU’s have a few days to live, and it is morally advisable that they spend maximum time with their families and friends. Currently, the definition of a family ranges from close relatives, friends, or the patient’s pets that are likely to offer consolation and comfort to the patient in the critical care. This study will investigate the open visitation policies in ICUs with the goal of investigating the possibility of positive outcomes. There is a profound literature that open visitation hours have positive impact to the welfare of the patient and the visitors, leading to a positive outcome.
Adineh, M., Toulabbi, T., Pournia, Y., & Baraz, S. (2016). The effect of family presence during pediatric intensive care unit bedside on family general health: A clinical trial study. International Journal of Pediatrics, 4(5), 1809-1817.
This research article contributes to the research topic by providing evidence on how the presence of families in the ICU fosters a positive response to the patient and the family members in coping with stress and anxiety that accompanies chronic diseases.
Research Design and Methods
Adineh, Toulabbi, and Desmartis (2017) carried out a clinical trial study on forty-six families with families hospitalized in ICUs. The goal was to establish the relationship between visitation to the ICU and the response of the patient and the family members. The study was conducted between 2009 and 2011. The researchers divided participant families into two random groups and assigned one as a control group and the other the intervention group. Additionally, the exclusion criteria involved the death of the family member, unwillingness to continue in the group, and referral of patient to another facility.
The study group was exposed to family visits for twelve visits, while the control group was left unattended to. The researchers evaluated the health of participants in each group during the first, sixth, and twelfth weeks using the general health questionnaire and demographic questionnaires. The GHQ questionnaire had four items, each drawing the participant to the impact of presence in the ICU on the participant’s health and the patient. Analytical statistics was later done using SPSS 18.0 for the data collected from the study. The mean from GHQs indicated that the control group scored lower compared to the intervention group. Adineh et al. (2017) concluded that presence of the family member in the ICU yields positive impact on the patient and the family member. This study is in line with the thesis of this research, that unrestricted hours of visitations in ICUs have a positive impact on patients and their families.
Barron, Y., M. (2016). Extending hospital visiting hours. Health Systems and Policy Research.
This peer-reviewed study contributes to the research topic by comparing the hours of visitation in ICUs in North America to the hours of visitation i...