We all need our advocates who understand us when we're sick and in the hospital. We also need people who love us. So this is good news.
ICUs' New Message: Welcome, Families (Wall St Journal, link for subscribers)
For decades, hospitals tried to keep visitors out of intensive-care units for more than a few minutes at a time. This year, Emory University Hospital here went the other way: It began inviting family members to move into the ward and take a hand in the patient's care.
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A wave of recent studies shows that critically ill patients may benefit from having families present. There's even a case to be made, researchers say, for having loved ones present for resuscitation, brain-catheter insertions and other life-and-death procedures.
Earlier this year, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the largest international society representing intensive-care professionals, recommended that ICUs offer open visiting hours and increase family involvement. "Why would we presume that we can dictate how often or who is allowed to visit during the patient's most trying moments on earth?"