Family engagement on neuroscience units with Post-covid visiting policies: A retrospective chart review

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BACKGROUND: Family engagement is crucial for achieving successful outcomes for both patients and hospitals. It supports safe transitions between care settings, providers, and ultimately, as illness progresses. However, in the hospital setting, family engagement is poorly operationalized. While the existing literature acknowledges its benefits, it does not adequately define the specific domains of family engagement, the roles families play during inpatient care, or whether these factors differ across patient populations. AIMS: This research aims to describe family engagement in the hospital setting and examine whether differences exist in documentation across various populations. METHODS: A retrospective chart review (RCR) was conducted using data extracted from the electronic medical records (EMRs) of adult patients admitted to neuroscience units at an academic medical center. Descriptive statistics were calculated for continuous and categorical variables. Chi-square analysis was performed on categorical variables (e.g., race, social deprivation index [SDI], cognitive impairment) to identify statistically significant differences between groups, with a threshold of p < 0.05. FINDINGS: The RCR included data of 293 patient records. The results reveal what is documented regarding family engagement in the EMR, who is documenting it, and where it is recorded. No differences were found in the documentation of engagement domains between Black and White patients, between patients with high and low SDI, or between patients with cognitive impairment and those without. However, differences were observed in documentation related to discharge placement. CONCLUSION: These results have implications for further research, policy development, and provider education. They underscore the need for a structured template in the EMR and suggest potential implications for nursing diagnoses and interventions to better support family engagement in the hospital setting.

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