ArticleCanadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie2021
An environmental scan of visitation policies in Canadian intensive care units during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Article
- Impact of Visitor Restrictions on Patient and Family Perceptions of Care in Canadian ICUs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.Journal of patient experience · 2026Article
- The effects of restricted visitation on delirium incidence in the intensive care units of a tertiary hospital in South Korea.Acute and critical care · 2025Article
- The impacts of visitor restrictions for palliative patients during the COVID-19 pandemic on family members and healthcare providers: a Canadian qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and Dementia: a Multijurisdictional Meta-Analysis of the Impact of the First Two Pandemic Waves on Acute Health-care Utilization and Mortality in Canada.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2025Article
- The Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Hospital Visitation Bans in the COVID-19 Era.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- 'We tried our best... it wasn't great': a qualitative study of clinician experiences on child psychiatry wards at the height of COVID-19.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19-related restricted family presence policies on Canadian pediatric intensive care unit clinicians: a qualitative study.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2024Article
- "You want them to be partners in therapy, but that's tricky when they're not there": A qualitative study exploring caregiver involvement across the continuum of care during the early COVID pandemic.Clinical rehabilitation · 2024Article
- "We Aren't Meant to Go Through the Hardest Parts of Our Lives Alone": Family Experience With Restricted PICU Presence During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Critical care explorations · 2023Article
- Observational study of organisational responses of 17 US hospitals over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.BMJ open · 2023Observational
- An integrated review: connecting Covid-era hospital visiting policies to family engagement.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
- A call to measure family presence in the adult intensive care unit.Intensive care medicine · 2022Article
- Variation in communication and family visiting policies in intensive care within and between countries during the Covid-19 pandemic: The COVISIT international survey.Journal of critical care · 2022Article
- Impact of restricted visitation policies during COVID-19 on critically ill adults, their families, critical care clinicians, and decision-makers: a qualitative interview study.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2022Article
- Family perspectives on facilitators and barriers to the set up and conduct of virtual visiting in intensive care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative interview study.Intensive & critical care nursing · 2022Article
- Article
- Evidence-informed consensus statements to guide COVID-19 patient visitation policies: results from a national stakeholder meeting.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2022Article
- Infection control strategies for patients and accompanying persons during the COVID-19 pandemic in German hospitals: a cross-sectional study in March-April 2021.The Journal of hospital infection · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeIn response to the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, hospitals in Canada enacted temporary visitor restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 and preserve personal protective equipment supplies. This study describes the extent, variation, and fluctuation of Canadian adult intensive care unit (ICU) visitation policies before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsWe conducted an environmental scan of Canadian hospital visitation policies throughout the first wave of the pandemic. We conducted a two-phased study analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data.
resultsWe collected 257 documents with reference to visitation policies (preCOVID, 101 [39%]; midCOVID, 71 [28%]; and lateCOVID, 85 [33%]). Of these 257 documents, 38 (15%) were ICU-specific and 70 (27%) referenced the ICU. Most policies during the midCOVID/lateCOVID pandemic period allowed no visitors with specific exceptions (e.g., end-of-life). Framework analysis revealed five overarching themes: 1) reasons for restricted visitation policies; 2) visitation policies and expectations; 3) exceptions to visitation policy; 4) patient and family-centred care; and 5) communication and transparency.
conclusionsDuring the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, most Canadian hospitals had public-facing visitor restriction policies with specific exception categories, most commonly for patients at end-of-life, patients requiring assistance, or COVID-19 positive patients (varying from not allowed to case-by-case). Further studies are needed to understand the consistency with which visitation policies were operationalized and how they may have impacted patient- and family-centred care.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.