Don't go to the hospital alone: Ensuring safe, highly reliable patient visitation (28 October 2021)

Summary

“Don't go to the hospital alone” has been the advice that safety experts have promoted for many years as a way that patients can help protect themselves. Family members provide an important safety net for patients in the hospital, and across the entire continuum of care—another slice of the Swiss cheese in our defenses against errors. As safety professionals, we hate to have to rely on that safety net, knowing that not all patients and families are able to provide it. Yet, given what we know about the frequency of medical errors, we still recommend it because families provide an additional cross-check of our care.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has stripped away the layer of protection provided by families. At the start of the pandemic, visitation was heavily curtailed or stopped entirely due to the risks of spreading the virus. These decisions were not made lightly—concerns about protecting patients and the workforce drove them. Risks of visitation have included risks of infection to visitors and staff, particularly when not enough personal protective equipment (PPE) was available, and added strain on nurses to manage the presence of visitors and visitors’ compliance with PPE protocols. These infection concerns have not borne out, especially after adequate PPE supplies became available.1.,2.

Those decisions at the start of the pandemic were necessary, given the uncertainties and the PPE shortages. However, now is the time to learn from that experience and reassess the risks and benefits of limited visitation.

Further reading

• It’s time to rename the ‘visitor’: reflections from a relative
• Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families: a relative's perspective
• Q&A: Dr. Tejal Gandhi on refocusing COVID visitation policies through a safety lens