title: The post anesthesia care unit experience: a family-centered approach.
abstract: The Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) visitation program of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center needed revision. The process was disorganized, visits were unescorted, and nurses and physicians were resistant. A committee was formed with the goal of developing a new unit philosophy and improving the overall process. Committee steps included reviewing the literature, educating staff about the benefits of visitation, empowering nurses to incorporate family visitation into patient care, and providing family education. As a result, staff attitudes changed, and nurses now contact the family within 90 minutes of the patient's arrival to the PACU to develop an individualized visitation plan. Morale is high, and nurses take pride in meeting the needs of patients and families.
authors.affiliation: Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Lenore
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smykowski
authors.forename: Wanda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016528:Postanesthesia Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000451:nursing*; D011367:Professional Staff Committees; D011997:Recovery Room / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014789:Visitors to Patients