Family Presence Article Critique

Family Presence Article Critique Inez Robbins Liberty University November 26, 2012 Abstract Family presence at the bedside during resuscitation is starting to become standard protocol in many emergency departments but research is limited in this area. The objective of the article reviewed is to explore the nurse’s perception of the benefit and/or harm to the family in a facility that has well established family presence protocols. The nurses’ perceptions of the effects on the family provide a positive influence on both the family members and the interdisciplinary team that is caring for the patient.

The study confirmed long-term participation yields positive effects on the perception of family presence at the bedside during resuscitation in the emergency department. The nursing perception offers insight on the care and compassion towards the family in their critical time of need. Future nursing implications, future nursing research, and ethical implications are discussed, as there is a further need for education and research in these areas of professional nursing development. Key words: Family presence, resuscitation, nurse, perception.

Family Presence Article Critique Review of Article A review of the Elinar Lowry, PhD, RN’s article “It’s Just What We Do”: A Qualitative Study of Emergency Nurses Working with Well-Established Family Presence Protocol published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing volume 38, number four in July of 2012 aims to describe the benefits and harm to patients family members who were present during patient resuscitation based on the perceptions of nurses whom work within a facility with an established family presence protocol.

The article describes a study performed in which fourteen emergency room nurses’ perception of their experiences with family presence during resuscitation is documented. The facility in which all fourteen nurses were employed had a family presence protocol since 1992 (Lowry, 2012). There were pointed open-ended questions asked. These questions were meant to allow the nurses to elaborate on experiences that were both positive and negative. The results of the study found that nurses perceived there were benefits experienced by the family in several ways (Lowry, 2012).

Some of these were: family was able to see the evolution of events or the patient’s progress during the resuscitation. The family was also able to confirm the effort used to save their loved one. Lastly, nurses confirmed that they felt the families appreciated that everything possible was done to save their family member. There was no perception of harm done to the family through observation of resuscitative measures (Lowry, 2012). Future Nursing Practice Implications of this study for future nursing practice suggest that long-term participation is directly related to acceptance of family presence by nursing.

This information is encouraging for nurses whom wish to write and establish family presence protocols within their facilities (Lowry, 2012). Care should be taken to identify and educate on tolerance of family member behaviors. Family presence protocols should also include limitations for the number of family members allowed at the bedside during resuscitative measures so that the staff members feel secure and comfortable with family presence practices (Lowry, 2012).

Future Nursing Research Implications for future nursing research related to family presence should include family members who take part in family presence. All staff members should be surveyed to conclude the overall cultural belief on family presence (Lowry, 2012). Other potential topics for studies include: the right time to request the family’s presence, how to integrate new hire nurses into a potentially unfamiliar family presence protocol or practice (Lowry, 2012). Ethical Issues

All of the nurses interviewed during this study held that family presence during resuscitation was the ethically right thing. Some of the nurses reported feelings of personal anguish at the family members grieving their loved ones. They also describe compassionate care to those family members (Lowry, 2012). References Lowry, E. (2012). “It’s just what we do”: A qualitative study of emergency nurses working with well-established family presence protocol. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 38(4). 329-334. doi:10. 106/j. jen. 2010. 12. 016