22 Presence of family in resuscitation in prehospital: the physicians’ and nurses’ opinion

Aim The family’s presence in resuscitation is a current topic but we have a lack of studies in Portugal. In prehospital setting, the patient‘s home is the most often place where is supplied resuscitation care. Method We applied an online questionnaire to 116 nurses and physicians who work in prehospital setting. Results Of the 116 professionals surveyed, 49 were physician’s (42,7%) and 67 (57,3%) were nurses. At mobile medical car work 93 professionals: 44 nurses (65,7%) and 49 physicians (100%). From the remaining nurses, 18 (26,9%) work at an immediate life support ambulance and the other 5 (7,5%) at another resource. All the professionals said they provided care in the prehospital with the presence of family members. 31% have a favourable opinion (12,3% physicians vs 44,8% nurses) about the presence of family members and 49,3% have an unfavourable opinion (71,4% physicians vs 32,9% nurses). They said that the main advantages are obtaining the health history, recognition of the team effort and facilitating the grieving process. The disadvantages there may be interference from family in procedures, the stress experienced by the team for being watched and anxiety felt by the family. Conclusion Most nurses have a positive opinion about the presence of family members during resuscitation as long as they are able to perceive the significance of interventions in resuscitation situations and do not interfere with team performance. On the other hand, most physicians have an opinion against, mainly due to the distraction of the team during all procedures and the trauma to the family with the invasive procedures. Conflict of interest None Funding None