Assessment of parental presence during bedside pediatric intensive care unit rounds: effect on duration, teaching, and privacy.

Objective: There is a paucity of literature evaluating the effects of family member presence during bedside medical rounds in the pediatric intensive care unit. We hypothesized that, when compared with rounds without family members, parental presence during morning medical rounds would increase time spent on rounds, decrease medical team teaching/education, increase staff dissatisfaction, create more stress in family members, and violate patient privacy in our open unit.

Design: Prospective, blinded, observational study.