An Analytical Comparison of the Opinions of Physicians Working in Emergency and Trauma Surgery Departments at Tabriz and Vienna Medical Universities Regarding Family Presence during Resuscitation

Abstract

The present study evaluated the opinions of physicians working in the emergency and trauma surgery departments of Vienna Medical University, in Austria, and Tabriz Medical University, in Iran, regarding the presence of patients’ relatives during resuscitation. In a descriptive-analytical study, the data obtained from questionnaires that had been distributed randomly to 40 specialists and residents at each of the participating universities were analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of two sections aimed at capturing the participants’ demographic data, the participants’ opinions regarding their support for the family’s presence during resuscitation, and the multiple potential factors affecting the participants’ attitudes, including health beliefs, triggers that could facilitate the procedure, self-efficacy, intellectual norms, and perceived behavioral control. The questionnaire also included a direct question (Question 16) on whether the participants approved of family presence. Each question could be answered using a Likert-type scale. The results showed that the mean scores for Question 16 were 4.31 ± 0.64 and 3.57 ± 1.31 for participants at Vienna and Tabriz universities, respectively. Moreover, physicians at Vienna University disapproved of the presence of patients’ families during resuscitation to a higher extent than did those at Tabriz University (P = 0.018). Of the studied prognostic factors affecting the perspectives of Vienna Medical University’s physicians, health beliefs (P = 0.000; B = 1.146), triggers (P = 0.000; B = 1.050), and norms (P = 0.000; B = 0.714) were found to be significant. Moreover, of the studied prognostic factors affecting the perspectives of Tabriz Medical University’s physicians, health beliefs (P = 0.000; B = 0.875), triggers (P = 0.000; B = 1.11), self-efficacy (P = 0.001; B = 0.5), and perceived behavioral control (P = 0.03; B = 0.713) were significant. Most physicians at Vienna and Tabriz Medical universities were not open towards family members’ presence during resuscitation.

Family presence during resuscitation in emergency departments: professionals’ attitudes in Brazil

“…These findings show that the attitude of the majority of Brazilian nurses and physicians towards FPDR was negative; they identified significant barriers and limitations to its implementation in practice – Similar results were found in a study carried out in Austria and Iran with 80 physicians working in ED (Soleimanpour et al. ). Our research shows that the lack of physical space for families, the perception of being observed, and increased staff stress have been reported and remain constant concerns to the participants.…”

Factors influencing decision‐making around family presence during resuscitation: a grounded theory study

“…, Soleimanpour et al . ). This paper provides the first in‐depth examination of decision‐making around family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) and offers an enhanced understanding of rationales for practice.…”

“…Like Tercier (2008), we believe a 'good' sudden death involves family in the last minutes of life. Yet, many family members are separated from their potentially dying loved ones during resuscitation events (Taraghi et al 2014, Soleimanpour et al 2015. This paper provides the first in-depth examination of decision-making around family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) and offers an enhanced understanding of rationales for practice.…”

How do clinicians practise the principles of beneficence when deciding to allow or deny family presence during resuscitation?

“…Current literature has many examples of clinicians separating family who wish to be present from their loved ones during unsuccessful resuscitation events, thus denying them the chance to say goodbye (Gunes & Zaybak, ; Soleimanpour et al., ; Taraghi et al., ). Decisions that impact the welfare of patients and families usually involve an ethical lens, where the benefits and harms of such decisions are weighed by clinicians and the action with the best‐predicted outcome is chosen (Kerridge, Lowe, & Stewart, ).…”

“…Family presence during resuscitation has created contentious debate for decades. Despite known benefits, and support from many professional bodies and the public, some clinicians do not support the practice and commonly separate family who wish to be present from their loved ones during resuscitation (Gunes & Zaybak, ; Soleimanpour et al., ; Taraghi et al., ). Consistently low resuscitation survival rates of 6%–13% (Berdowski, Berg, Tijssen, & Koster, ; Sasson, Rogers, Dahl, & Kellermann, ) mean that if FPDR is denied, family are not able to be with their loved ones at the end of life.…”