Parental information and presence in a pediatric critical care unit

Background Information given to families in an intensive care unit (ICU) is an ethical requirement and a medical necessity. In a pediatric area, the relationship between the physician and the patient is transformed into a triangular relationship which comprises "medical team patient and parents. Indeed, family satisfaction is a goal that fits into the overall improvement of quality of care in a medical department in general and in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in particular. On the other hand, parents are allowed in several structures of the northern countries, to attend and participate in cares, which is still not allowed in our context. Objectives To measure the satisfaction of caregivers and parents about the information given to them and to meet the current role of parents in the care given to their children in our PICU. Materials and Methods A transversal survey with a descriptive and analytic vision was conducted in the PICU of a teaching hospital in Marrakesh-Morocco. Two questionnaires were administered: one to the health care providers of the PICU and the other one to 50 parents. Results More than half of parents believe that the reception in the PICU is satisfying when all the caregivers and the staff want to improve it. 91.6% of the nurses and 60% of the doctors affirm that the restriction of visits in the ICU is often well-founded and justified. The majority of caregivers express their unwillingness to the presence of parents during the medical round Conclusions There is a general willingness of the team to improve practices but the concept of open-rea does not seem to be easily accepted yet.