title: European cardiovascular nurses' experiences of and attitudes towards having family members present in the resuscitation room.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate cardiovascular nurses' experiences of and attitudes towards the presence of family members during resuscitation of adult patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 36-item questionnaire exploring the experiences of and attitudes towards family members being present in the resuscitation room was distributed to a convenience sample of nurses attending three national and one international cardiovascular nursing conferences held in Europe during 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 820 questionnaires distributed, 411(50%) completed ones were returned. Of these 411 respondents, 178 (44%) had experienced at least one situation of families being present. Positive (23%) and negative (21%) experiences of family presence were equally distributed. Only 28 (7%) respondents stated that their unit had a protocol covering family presence. Nurses in Ireland (n=30; 59%) and the UK (n=18; 55%) were most likely to have experienced family presence and protocols relating to this were most commonly found in the UK (n=4; 14%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Less than half of the included European cardiovascular nurses had experienced a situation of families being present during resuscitation and protocols pertaining to this were rare. There was no clear attitude towards family presence, though experience in nursing made nurses more favourable towards it.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Caring Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Sweden. asa.axelsson@fhs.gu.se
authors.forename: Asa B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Axelsson
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fridlund
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moons
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mårtensson
authors.forename: Wilma Scholte
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Op Reimer
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strömberg
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Tone M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Norekvål
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making; D005060:Europe; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014789:Visitors to Patients / Q000523:psychology