Strategies to Increase Patient Control of Visiting

Controlling patient visiting commonly evokes ambivalent feelings among critical care nurses. Much has been written about the needs of the family and benefits of social support as well as about the nursesʼ opinions about visitors. Nurses have traditionally been advocates for their patients. Critical care nurses, in particular, have felt a special duty to control the environment and be a “gatekeeper.” In an effort to “protect” the patient, perhaps nurses and families have neglected to consult the one person who really should have the last word on visiting–the patient!