Benefits of Visiting Hours
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Nursing
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Jessica Naber
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Historically visitors in the hospital were restricted for many reasons including reducing the risk of infections, unnecessary stress, and allowing patient's adequate rest time. However, there has been a shift to open visiting hours to allow visitors in hospitals 24 hours a day every day. There are many benefits and negatives to this, and visiting hours should be more open and flexible, but still there. In this paper one observation unit in an ambulatory care center was viewed and their visitor policy was looked it. This unit did not end up having any visiting hours set in place. The nurses there had some complaints about this. They felt that there should not be more than two people allowed in a patient's room at a time, and sometimes there may be around six or seven visitors. They also discussed how there is no cut-off time for visitors, so many visitors may come in after midnight, which keeps the patient up. Patients also have children staying the night and an adult does not always accompany them. This paper discusses the benefits of visiting hours, the benefits of open hours, the best way to combine the two into the new policy, how the policy will be implemented into practice, and the theoretical framework that best matches the new policy.
Fall Scholars Week 2019 Event
Evidence Based Best Practices in Clinical Healthcare
Benefits of Visiting Hours
Historically visitors in the hospital were restricted for many reasons including reducing the risk of infections, unnecessary stress, and allowing patient's adequate rest time. However, there has been a shift to open visiting hours to allow visitors in hospitals 24 hours a day every day. There are many benefits and negatives to this, and visiting hours should be more open and flexible, but still there. In this paper one observation unit in an ambulatory care center was viewed and their visitor policy was looked it. This unit did not end up having any visiting hours set in place. The nurses there had some complaints about this. They felt that there should not be more than two people allowed in a patient's room at a time, and sometimes there may be around six or seven visitors. They also discussed how there is no cut-off time for visitors, so many visitors may come in after midnight, which keeps the patient up. Patients also have children staying the night and an adult does not always accompany them. This paper discusses the benefits of visiting hours, the benefits of open hours, the best way to combine the two into the new policy, how the policy will be implemented into practice, and the theoretical framework that best matches the new policy.