RESEARCH Family witnessed resuscitation – experience and attitudes of German intensive care nurses Stefan K ¨ oberich, Arnold Kaltwasser, Oliver Rothaug and John Albarran ABSTRACT Aim: To explore German intensive care nurses’ experiences and attitudes toward family witnessed resuscitation (FWR). Background: The subject of FWR has fuelled much controversy among health professionals. Typically studies involving European critical and cardiac nurses’ under-represent the perspective of individual countries. Arguably research exploring the experiences and attitudes of nurses by country may expand understanding and embrace cultural values. Design: Descriptive survey. Methods: Three hundred and ninety-four German intensive care nurses attending a conference were invited to complete a 36-item questionnaire on their experiences and attitudes towards FWR. Participants were also invited to share, in writing, other thoughts relevant to the study. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 166 (42·1%) questionnaires were returned completed. Seventy participants had experiences with family members being present and for 46 (65·7%) these were negative. Participants (68%) did not agree that family members should have the option to be with loved ones during resuscitation. Over half (56·0%) were concerned that family presence may adversely influence staff performance during resuscitation procedures. There was a lack of certainty about the outcomes of the practice, although 61% agreed that family presence could facilitate better understanding among relatives. Qualitative responses where characterized by four broad themes relating to individualized decision-making, supporting families, threats of violence and family involvement. Conclusions: German intensive care nurses have guarded attitudes towards FWR because of their experiences and concerns for the well-being of relatives and staff. Introducing this topic within nursing curricula, as part of resuscitation training and by wider professional debate will help challenge and resolve practitioner concerns and objections. Relevance to clinical practice: Health professionals have anxieties about possible consequences of FWR, strategies involving education and simulation training may improve attitudes. Key words: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation • Families • Family witnessed resuscitation • Intensive care nursing • Questionnaire design/survey Authors: SK¨ oberich, RN, CCRN, Dipl. Pflegep ¨ ad. (FH), MScN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Departments of Cardiology/Angiology, Cardiovascular Surgery and Pneumology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; A Kaltwasser, CCRN, Certified Nurse Educator, Nurse Educator, School of Nursing, District Hospital Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany; O Rothaug, RN, CCRN, Critical Care Nurse, Department of Anaesthesiology, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Centre G¨ ottingen, G ¨ ottingen, Germany; J Albarran, RN, DPhil, MSc, BSc (Hons), Reader in Cardiovascular Critical Care Nursing, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK Address for correspondence: SK¨ oberich, Department of Cardiology/Angiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany E-mail: stefan.koeberich@uniklinik-freiburg.de BACKGROUND Family witnessed resuscitation (FWR) has remained a controversial subject for more than two decades. Since the first published report by Doyle et al. (1987), a number of international studies have investigated the effects of observing resuscitation measures on family members (Belanger and Reed, 1997; Robinson et al., 1998; Meyers et al., 2000) on patients (Eichhorn et al., 2001; Duran et al., 2007; McMahon-Parkes et al., 2009) as well as the attitudes towards FWR of nurses, doctors and other health care providers (Compton et al., 2006; Walker, 2008; G ¨ unes and Zaybak, 2009; Mortelmans et al., 2009).  2010 The Authors. Nursing in Critical Care  2010 British Association of Critical Care Nurses • Vol 15 No 5 241