RESEARCH doi: 10.1111/j.1478-5153.2011.00479.x Family presence during resuscitation: a descriptive study of nurses’ attitudes from two Saudi hospitals Abbas S Al-Mutair, Virginia Plummer and Beverley Copnell ABSTRACT Background: The presence of family in the patient care area during resuscitation events is a matter of current debate among health care professionals in many communities. Family presence is highly recommended by many health organizations worldwide for several reasons including patient and family rights. There are no policies or guidelines in Saudi Arabia to guide health professionals in their practice regarding the option of family being present during resuscitations. The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of nurses towards family presence during resuscitation in the Muslim community of Saudi Arabia. Design: This is a descriptive survey using data from a convenience sample of 132 nurses using a self-administered questionnaire. The study took place in two major trauma centres in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Results: The analysis of the data revealed that nurses (n = 132) had negative attitudes towards family presence during resuscitation. A high percentage (77·2%) agreed that witnessing resuscitation is a traumatic experience for the family members. Almost all participants (92·3%) disagreed with the statement that the practice of allowing family members to be present during the resuscitation of a loved one would benefit the patient and 78% disagreed with the statement that it would benefit families. The majority of the participants (65%) revealed that the presence of family would negatively affect the performance of the resuscitation team. However, almost half of the sample (43·8%) would prefer a written policy allowing the option of family presence during resuscitation in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion: The findings of the study strongly suggest the need for the development of written policies offering families the option to remain with patients during resuscitation in Saudi Arabia. The study further recommends the development of education programs for staff and public for the safe implementation of the practice. Key words: Attitude • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation • Experience • Family presence • Relationship INTRODUCTION The practice of allowing family members to be present during the resuscitation of a family member has gained increased worldwide attention (Kianmeher et al., 2010). This development has important implications for the practice environment of clinical nurses and other health care professionals, and it has also been recommended by a number of health organizations including the American Heart Association (2000), the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses (2006), the European Federation of Critical Care Nursing Authors: AS Al-Mutair, MSc. Nurs., Ministry of Health & Ministry of Higher Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; V Plummer, Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery in Monash University in Australia; B Copnell, Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery Monash University in Australia Address for correspondence: AS Al-Mutair, 3/23 Highland St, Kingsbury, Melbourne, Victoria 3083, Australia E-mail: Abbas4080@hotmail.com Associations, the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care and the European Society of Cardiology Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (Fulbrook et al., 2007). However, it remains a common practice to perform resuscitations in Saudi Arabia without giving the family members the option to attend. In fact, no clear policy or guideline has been identified, which supports family presence during resuscitations in Saudi Arabian hospitals. Also, no previous published study of family presence during resuscitation has been conducted in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it was timely and appropriate to identify the attitudes of nurses towards family presence during resuscitation in Saudi Arabia, which would contribute to the body of knowledge. Literature review Attitudes towards family presence during resuscitation have been found to differ significantly between family members and health care professionals. While some 90  2012 The Authors. Nursing in Critical Care  2012 British Association of Critical Care Nurses • Vol 17 No 2