Patients' and Families' Satisfaction With Visiting Policies in Cardiac Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Background: Families play a vital role in the recovery of patients admitted to intensive care units. They can help patients to adapt themselves to the crisis and feel more satisfied.

Objective: In this study, we examined the patients' and families' satisfaction with the current visiting policies in cardiac intensive care units in the largest Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center of Iran.

Method: This research used a cross-sectional descriptive design. To do so, 303 patients admitted to those cardiac intensive care units and their families responded to a 2-part questionnaire between September 2014 and March 2015.

Results: The results showed that 55.1% of the participants were dissatisfied with the limited visiting policies of the cardiac intensive care units, whereas the satisfaction rate was 14.2%. The remaining participants (30.7%) were slightly satisfied with the visiting policies in cardiac intensive care units.

Conclusions: Patient-centered care is an expectation among patients and their families in the cardiac intensive care units. It seems that a change in visiting policies is necessary.