[Presence of parents in the emergency room during invasive procedures: do they prefer to be present?]

Abstract

Introduction: Parents are not usually present during procedures in the paediatric emergency room (ER), although an increasing number of them would like to. Our goal was to find out how parents felt about them being present in ER during procedures.

Material and methods: This is an observational study. Questionnaires were distributed among parents of patients in the ER during January and February 2007. Data included demographic questions as well as the opinion regarding their preference on being present during venipuncture, stitching, lumbar puncture or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They were also asked about who should take the decision whether to allow the family to be present or not.

Results: A total of 98 questionnaires were analyzed. The median age of participants was 32 years-old, of which 84.5% would prefer to be present for venipuncture, 70.4% for stitching, 66.3% for lumbar puncture and 61.2% for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Venipuncture was performed on 21% of the children, stitching on 4%, and lumbar puncture on 2%. There was no cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Parents considered that the decision about being present should be taken by the professional in 74% (venipuncture), 75% (stitching), 80% (lumbar puncture) and 81% (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). The mean age of the group that preferred to be present was lower (32 vs. 40 years; p = 0.039).

Conclusions: Most parents surveyed preferred to be present during invasive procedures in ER. The more invasive the procedure is the higher reluctance from parents to be present. Most parents thought the decision should be taken by the health care professional, particularly when the procedure is more invasive.