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Come anytime: hospitals move to 24/7 visiting hours

Come anytime: hospitals move to 24/7 visiting hours

Time was, visitors would be shooed away from their loved ones in the hospital at the end of visiting hours.

But that model is changing as 50 Canadian hospital and healthcare organizations in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island are reviewing, or have already adopted policies to encourage the presence of patient's families — including 24/7 visiting hours.

The push is part of Better Together, a family-presence initiative spearheaded by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.

Maria Judd, a senior director with the foundation, says the move to open up visiting hours is in response to popular demand.

"Patients were asking, 'Why does my family member have to go home at a certain hour of the day while I'm in hospital and I'm sick and vulnerable and want them here?'" said Judd.

New Brunswick ahead of the curve

The Horizon Health Network relaxed its policy surrounding visiting hours in February 2016, according to Margaret Melanson, Horizon Health vice-president of quality and patient-centered care.

The policy allows people to have a family member or a partner in care with them "at any time of the day or night," said Melanson.

"Patients and family members really want to have someone with them as a second set of ears, or if they are anxious or upset," said Melanson. "Overall, this has been well received."

The policy is intended mainly for immediate family members designed by the patient as a so-called "partner in care," she said. Visitors who don't fall into that category are still expected to leave in the early evening around 8:30 p.m.

"It's part of our philosophy of patient-centered care, and we're very pleased to offer this to our patients," Melanson said.

Benefits outweigh risks

Before the policy was put in place, some raised concerns opening up visiting hours would lead to an untenable noise level in shared rooms, or an increased rates of patient infection due to an increase in traffic.

But "common sense prevails," according to Judd. "There was no increase and no change in infection rates at all," she said.

Further, staff also reported "better satisfaction, more understanding and connection to the patient," she said. They also noticed fewer medication errors, fewer falls, and smoother transitions home, she said.

Melanson attributes the success, in part, to the engagement of friends and family.

"It means family members can be an extra set of eyes, ears, and a voice for them, [giving them] better understanding of conversations with nurses and doctors, and providing information," she said.

"This is about creating an environment in which patients and families are welcomed as partners."

Health is 'a human interaction'

Despite the evidence to suggest patient outcomes are improved by opening up visiting hours, a November 2015 study by the foundation found fewer than one in three Canadian hospitals had relaxed visiting policies.

Even fewer offered 24/7 access to designated family members.

The foundation is hoping to see that change.

"We're encouraging Canadians to have conversations with their hospitals and healthcare organizations about whether they could identify a loved one to stay by their side around the clock if they so choose," said Judd. "Health, and its core, is a human interaction."