[Organization of visits in Spanish ICU].
It is a fact that visits in the intensive care units (ICU) have always been very restrictive due to diverse criteria. Nowadays, some of them have been progressively liberalized, giving to the relatives more satisfaction and a better cover to their necessities. In our country there are no surveys about the organization of these visits at the present time, apart from some exceptional cases which commentate the situation in a particular center.


OBJECTIVE
Know how are visits organized in the intensive cares units in Spain.


METHODS



METHODS
cross-sectional study; scope: 98 ICU of different Spanish hospitals; studied variables: the number of visits, their duration, the number of relatives in each visit, the number of relatives visiting the patients at the same time, the amount of information each day, the professional that informs, the use of written information and information by telephone, preventive measures taken before the entry in the unit, how relatives take part in the cares, location of the waiting room and use or not of a protocol of attention to relatives.


METHODS
The information has been obtained by a questionnaire placed in a web site of the Internet and directed to professionals of different Intensive cares units.


RESULTS
The ninety and eight evaluated units represent 37 Spanish provinces from all the autonomous communities. The most frequently noticed pattern for the organization of visits shows a restrictive character of the visits in Spain.


CONCLUSIONS
There are clear differences in the organization of visits between the studied ICU and no connection between the most common practice and what the survey, after evaluating the necessities of the relatives, recommends. These recommendations are: more visits, more flexibility of schedules, more integration of the relatives in the patients cares, broach the information from diverse disciplines, washing hands as the only necessary measure to be taken by the relatives.
Velasco Bueno
José Manuel
JM
Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Costa del Sol, Marbella, Málaga, España.
Prieto de Paula
Juan Francisco
JF
Castillo Morales
Jorge
J
Merino Nogales
Nuria
N
Perea-Milla López
Emilio
E
D003422:Critical Care; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D009739:Nursing Services; D005791:Patient Care; D013030:Spain; D014789:Visitors to Patients