Aspectos clave que inducen a las enfermeras a la flexibilización de la política de visitas de las familias en una unidad de cuidados especiales

Abstract

Introduction: A "exible visitors policy has important benets for both the critical patient and his/her family. However, there are still units with a restrictive policy. It is important to know what induces nurses to make it more "exible. Objective: To identify those key aspects that induce nursing professionals to increase "exibility in family visitors policy in a special care unit. Material and methods: A prospective, qualitative, descriptive study was conducted in a polyvalent unit. For data collection, non-participant observations (n=302), eld notes and interviews with nurses (n=16) were combined. Results: In 16.9% of observations, nurses modied the established guidelines, making the visiting schedule more "exible. Six aspects have been identied that in"uenced, to a different extent, the increase in visiting hours "exibility by nurses. Clinical judgment and professionals’ beliefs and attitudes were identied among internal factors. Unit culture and other professionals’ perceptions stood out among external factors. Conclusions: The unit visiting policy by nursing professionals is rarely modied by making it more "exible. Knowing why nurses are induced to make visitors schedule more "exible will enable to design strategies that will help to improve the adoption of visitors policies in a "exible and individualized way.