Family Presence in the Emergency Department
Summary

The advantages of having family members present in the emergency department is being recognized as an important clinical strategy to help families cope with the serious injury or sudden death of family members. Family presence in the emergency department is when family members are present in the patient care environment during resuscitation or invasive procedures. Emergency department staff may find there are a number of challenges in introducing policies and procedures that support family presence at their institutions. The Emergency Nurses Association took the lead on moving the family witnessed resuscitation (FWR) forward within the health care community. Support for this work further continued in 2000, when the ANA responded to the interests voiced by emergency nurses regarding this practice and developed an unprecedented resolution in support of family presence during resuscitation or invasive procedures. The recent dissemination of findings from the work of the family presence research team that studied the role of family in the emergency department setting among ED’s suggests a renewed focus on the role of family members who accompany patients for urgent care.

Position Statements

Institution Policies

About Family Presence

Research

Special thanks to Loreen Evans Jean Boles, Christina VonColln for the research and primary development of this web content. This project was undertaken as part of a fellowship arrangement between ENA and Widener University-School of Nursing, Chester, Pennsylvania.

Special thanks to Patricia Howard, PhD, RN, CEN, Operations Manager, Emergency and Trauma Services, University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center for her expert review of this resource page and her ongoing commitment to family presence in the emergency department.