First, Do No Harm — But in a Pandemic, How? (25 September 2020)

Summary

As hospitals in the US braced for the onslaught of coronavirus cases this past spring, they radically restructured and reorganised to help ease the burden on staff and minimise transmission within the hospital. Along with ceasing elective surgeries and transforming floors to allow for care of intubated patients, visitors were forbidden from entering hospitals with few exceptions.

Now, several months removed from the peak of the pandemic, a limited number of visitors are allowed at a time. While limiting visitors allows some additional element of physical distancing, how much does a ban actually help our patients, and how much does it hurt them — especially mothers-to-be in the vulnerable perinatal period? Is it possible to limit visitor-spread virus while allowing our patients the dignity and the peace of companionship during one of the most stressful periods of their lives?

In this blog, Byrne and Goldfarb look at the consequences of limiting visitors during the pandemic and considers the negative effect this may have on the health of the patient.