Purpose of family photographs displayed in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Objective: To investigate why parents frequently display family photographs on their children's beds in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Design: Questionnaire.

Setting: Tertiary-care pediatric ICU.

Subjects: Twenty-three parents who displayed pictures, 25 parents who did not, and 50 ICU nurses.

Outcome Measure: Content analysis.

Results: Parents' stated primary reasons for displaying pictures were (1) to motivate the staff and (2) to comfort themselves. Parents not displaying photographs had not thought of displaying them, and the idea had not been suggested to them. Sixty-eight percent of the nurses surveyed reported that they invite parents to display photographs.

Conclusions: We recommend that ICU staff consider discussing with parents the potential benefit of displaying photographs of their children. Pictures may open an avenue for communication, allow parents to express unspoken concerns, and give parents comfort or a goal to strive for and thus alleviate some of the stress associated with having a child in the ICU.