title: Parents in the anaesthetic room: a questionnaire survey of departments of anaesthesia.
abstract: Thirty departments of paediatric anaesthesia in the United Kingdom were sent a questionnaire about their policies and practices regarding parental presence in the anaesthetic room. Of 22 respondents, 100% left the decision about whether a parent should be present for induction of anaesthesia to the individual anaesthetist and only 14% had written policy guidelines. All departments permitted parental presence at induction for elective surgery, compared with 77% for emergency surgery and 55% for a rapid sequence induction. The minimum age of child below which parents were not allowed at induction varied between no age limit and one year.
authors.affiliation: Shackleton Department of Anaesthetics, Southampton General Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Spargo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000761:Anesthesia Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000776:Anesthesiology; D002648:Child; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D004630:Emergencies; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010290:Parents; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom