Problem: While most family members now have access to the delivery room to observe the beginning of life, those same family members are largely prohibited from viewing the resuscitative efforts of loved ones in the emergency room. Despite research to the contrary, most hospitals persist in prohibiting family members from being present during invasive procedures and/or resusucitation because of unfounded concerns. The lack of understanding about potential benefits of family presence leaves both clients and providers frustrated and potentially culpable. Purpose and Scope: The purpose of this capstone project was to describe the level of family presence self-awareness of clinical department head adminstrators within a selected healthcare organization before and after a family presence teaching intervention. The rationale for the project was that development of a family-presence policy for the selected acute care setting would foster family presence throughout the facility. Goal: The goal of the project was to successfully implement a family presence teaching intervention for clinical department head administrators within a healthcare organization. Objectives: First, to describe demographic characteristics of clinical department head administrators within a selected healthcare organization. Second, to describe pre-intervention self-awareness of selected clinical department head administrators within a selected healthcare organization related to family presence during invasive procedures. Third, to describe pre-intervention self-awareness of selected clinical department head adminstrators within a selected healthcare organization related to family presence during resuscitation interventions. Fourth, to describe post-intervention self-awareness of selected clinical department head administrators within a selected healthcare organization related to family presence during invasive procedures. Fifth, to describe post-intervention self-awareness of selected clinical department head administrators within a selected healtcare organization related to family presence during resuscitation interventions. Sixth, to measure changes in self-awareness before and after a family presence teaching intervention. Plan: Phase One: Conduct a needs assessment using a published evidence-based critique template. Phase Two: Deisgn a family presence teaching intervention using a Evidence Based Medicine approach. Phase Three: Implement an evidence-based family presence teaching intervention for a projected sample. Phase Four: Evaluate the level of family presence self-awareness before and after a family presence teaching intervention using the Self-Assessment Survey. Outcomes and Results: Using a triangulated intervention research design, results of the pre-intervention and post-intervention measures revealed a modest mean score increase in family presence self-awareness in the clincial department head administrators. Moreover, scaled reliability estimates based on internal consistency for the pre-intervention testing achieved significance, while the post-intervention testing also achieved signifiance with regard to the tool’s performance in this interventional design.
