Impact of Built Design on Nighttime Family Presence in the Intensive Care Unit

Objective: Determine whether dedicated family space changes family presence at night in the intensive care unit (ICU). Purpose: To measure family presence at night before and after moving to an ICU with in-room family space. Background: The safeguarding phenomenon families experience may lead to the desire to sit vigil at the bedside. Lack of dedicated family sleep space may exacerbate sleep deprivation for those who wish to be present at night. Sleep deprivation decreases cognition and capacity for decision-making. Traditionally, ICU rooms have not included dedicated family areas or sleep surfaces. National recommendations include designing new hospital ICU rooms with dedicated family space. It is not known if the built design changes family presence at night. Method: Family presence was measured for 30 nights pre- and postmove to a newly built ICU with dedicated family space. The policy for open flexible family presence remained the same before and after the move. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in proportion of occupied patient rooms with visitors following the move to the new ICU designed with family space (31% difference, x2= 5.675, 95% CI [5.74, 51.29], p = .0172). Conclusions: Families utilize the space when available. Further research is needed to quantify quality and quantity of family sleep and impact on decision-making and interactions with the care team. Sleep deprivation may decrease for families who would have remained in the unit without available family space and sleep surface.