In the summer of 2000 staff members...

In the summer of 2000 staff members at a large comprehensive cancer center initiated plans to design strange OR suites, including a waiting area for family members (ie, relatives, significant others, friends). This waiting area would replace the waiting latitude located in a public access lobby forward the hospital's main floor. The lobby featured a wall of large bay windows that provided natural light and a view of the outside, along with lines of sofa chairs positioned near amenities, so as rest rooms, pay telephone the gift store the cafeteria, and the information desk To make sure that the proposal for a novel waiting area would meet user penurys staff members in the patient and family education department carriageed a formal needs assessment. The springs provide valuable insights about which amenities family members believe would contribute to a more comfortable and supportive experience.

GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of this be in want ofs assessment was to develop a proposal for a of recent origin waiting area that would make secure family members' comfort and satisfaction during their wait. The objectives were to understand the importance family members and principal caregivers place on

* being informed of their lov one's progres by the and of surgery,

* oftenness of patient updates,

* amenities in the waiting area, and

* visiting the patient in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The indigences assessment comprised five components. These included a literature review, telephone interviews with perioperative staff members at other facilities, a view of perioperative staff members at the cancer center interviews with patients' family members and friends, and written measure and estimates administered to patients' family members and friends.

Literature review. The literature review was carriageed using the key word waiting latitudes Staff members performing the assessment searched Medline for the years 1980 to 2000 and then expanded the search to include the clew words design, policies, and visitation. Fifty-eight concerns met these criteria, but upon review, only 20 were pertinent to the stand in want ofs assessment. Six of the articles addressed surgical waiting areas, 11 focused upon visitation in the critical care unit (CCU) sum of two units involved music therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU), and united dealt with caring for patients and their family members in the ICU. No articles specifically addressed amenities family members ne in surgical waiting areas.

Family members find waiting for lov uniteds undergoing surgery to be stressful (1) Providing various amenities and services could help create a more supportive and relaxing atmosphere. the same researcher found that assigning presents to assist family members and regular staff-family member interaction increased perceived support. (2) Another researcher compared the impact of an educational videotape, nurse-family member interaction, and as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but on perceived support. (3) Family members who received these interventions perceived increased support compared to those in the ascendency group who did not receive any interventions.

Another amenity that has been shown to increase comfort is music. Visitors who listened to music reported lower stres on a levels and a greater sense of relaxation compared to those in the repress group. (4) Patients in the ICU who listened to personally selecteded music experienced reduced heart rate, systolic family pressure, pain, and anxiety. (5) Another amenity conception to reduce anxiety during the waiting period is the use of pagers. (6) Researchers construct that providing family members with pagers allowed them the freedom to walk around without missing any pertinent information and increased the amount of time they worn out outside the waiting area; however, this amenity had little consequence on family members' anxiety levels

The literature revealed that opinions in succession visitation policies for the PACU varied. greatest in number nurses believe that family member visitation is important to patient recuperation (7) Even in the face of restrictive policies, festers have been documented to be lenient, favoring visitation and repeatedly deviating from hospital policy. (8) one believe that visits provide psychological benefit to patients yet have negative consequences on family members (eg exhaustion) and staff members (eg disruption). (9) individual group of researchers reported that family members believe common visitation in the CCU is extremely important to patient recovery. (10) Reasons that family members want to be bring to a period to their hospitalized relatives can be categorized as protective involvement in patient care, feelings of uncertainty, making life and death decisions and living with los evolving relationships, life transitions as a originate of the patient's illness, and caring for themselves and remaining hopeful (11) single researcher indicated that visitation policies should be tailored to patients' elections and illness-related characteristics. (12) Contracted visitation (ie, visitation agreed concerning by the nurse and family members) was place to increase satisfaction for patients, family members, and staff members according to permitting more control over each individual's schedule and les disruption to patient care. (13) single group of researchers found that teaching hospitals had the principally liberal visitation policies and allowed the longest duration of visits. (14)