By Barbara L. Jones, PhD, MSW, Jessica Parker-Raley, PhD, Todd Maxson, MD, and Chris Brown, MS, CCLS Objective To examine the conflicting perceptions that health care professionals hold regarding family presence during pediatric resuscitation. Methods In phase 1, 137 health care professionals com- pleted a 23-item questionnaire about their views on family presence and their perceptions of their opponents’ views on family presence. In phase 2, 12 phase 1 respondents were interviewed about the effects that family presence may have on patients’ families and on trauma teams. Results All respondents indicated that legal concerns and risks were important factors during family presence; how- ever, respondents in favor of family presence believed that legal concerns and risks were minimized when patients’ fami- lies were present whereas respondents who were opposed believed the opposite. Respondents who were opposed assumed that respondents who were in favor of family pres- ence were less sympathetic and concerned about families, trauma teams, and health care providers; respondents in favor of family presence assumed that respondents who were opposed were overly preoccupied with legal concerns and potential risks involved with family presence during pedi- atric resuscitations. All respondents believed that patients’ families and trauma teams are affected by family presence. Specifically, respondents in favor of family presence believed that families and trauma team members are positively affected whereas opponents believed the opposite. Conclusions These findings provide a deeper understanding of the views of health care professionals and how these views might affect the delivery of family-centered care. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2011;20:199-208) U NDERSTANDING HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS’ VIEWS OF F AMILY PRESENCE DURING PEDIATRIC RESUSCITATION C E 1.0 Hour Notice to CE enrollees: A closed-book, multiple-choice examination following this article tests your understanding of the following objectives: 1. Understand the importance of providing care that includes the psychosocial needs of the patient’s family and the trauma team during pediatric resuscitation attempts. 2. Recognize that greater dialogue is needed about how best to provide family-centered care during critical moments. 3. Identify perceived disadvantages and advan- tages of family presence during pediatric resuscitation. To read this article and take the CE test online, visit www.ajcconline.org and click “CE Articles in This Issue.” No CE test fee for AACN members. www.ajcconline.org AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, May 2011, Volume 20, No. 3 199 Families in Critical Care ©2011 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses doi: 10.4037/ajcc2011181 by AACN on October 24, 2016 http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/ Downloaded from