To describe the attitudes and perceptions of intensive care unit (ICU) staff [critical care physicians and fellows (MDs), registered nurses (RNs), allied health discipline (HD) and managers] towards family presence at bedside rounds. We developed, tested and administered a questionnaire to the multidisciplinary staff. 24-Bed medical surgical ICU. 160/221 (72.4%) individuals responded, including 12 MDs, 95 RNs, 48 HD personnel, 4 managers and 1 unspecified. While most MDs strongly agreed and HD and management groups somewhat agreed, most RNs strongly disagreed with providing family members the option to attend rounds. Over 50% of respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed that the presence of family members prolongs rounds, reduces the medical education provided to the team and constrains delivery of negative medical information. Compared to MDs, RNs expressed greater reservation to family presence at rounds. Among RNs, more experienced RNs, expressed greater reservation with family presence during rounds. We found significant differences among the attitudes of health care providers towards family presence at bedside rounds with RNs, especially more experienced RNs, expressing the greatest reservation. Qualitative research is required to explore perceived and actual barriers to family member presence at rounds.

Background. Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) are considered a critical component of high functioning nursing and interprofessional care teams. Therefore, it is important to ensure that RPNs feel valued within their roles within acute care settings. High acute care demands in tandem with unsupported workplace environments can lead to increased levels of job dissatisfaction, burnout, and ultimately impact retention. Identifying and examining the barriers and facilitators that enable RPNs to be optimally equipped within acute care are critical towards ensuring success in their role. In this study, we explore the experiences of RPNs and perspectives of nurse leaders on RPN integration into an acute care setting. Methods. A mixed method study among RPNs (n = 10) and nurse leaders (n = 10) was conducted. This included administration of the Assessment for Collaborative Environments (ACE‐15) tool to measure interprofessional integration, collaboration, and teamwork. Semi‐structured interviews were also held with all participants to explore both the lived experiences of RPNs in the acute care environment and the perspectives of nurse leaders who had supported the onboarding and integration of RPNs. Results. Our inductive content analysis identified 5 themes: preintegration process, nursing team dynamics, RPN role clarity, challenges to RPN integration, and benefits to RPN integration. ACE‐15 data showed no significant differences in the level of teamness and internal disagreement between RPNs and nurse leaders (t (17) = 0.37 and p = 4.60). RPNs reporting a higher level of teamness described a more positive integration experience than those who reported a lower level of teamness. Conclusion. The integration of a new role to existing teams brings both benefits and challenges which are experienced uniquely by RPNs and nurse leaders. Nurse leaders can utilize findings of this study to better prepare their staff and units for the integration of new roles into their models of care.

Background/Objectives: Healthcare workers at the frontline of managing pandemics are at increased risk for adverse physical and mental health outcomes, which has been shown to result in burnout. The relationship between personal resilience and burnout among clinical and non-clinical healthcare staff working in an acute care setting was assessed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional survey design with electronic questionnaires was used to measure resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale,) and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory—Human Services Survey). Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between resilience and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Results: A significant inverse relationship between resilience and both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and a positive relationship between resilience and personal accomplishment were identified. Higher resilience scores were significantly associated with lower emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment under pandemic conditions. Conclusions: Strategies to boost resilience organization-wide amongst healthcare staff providing patient care are critical for providing skills to reduce the onset of burnout and support employee mental health. From a pandemic preparedness lens, organizational-level emergency management should consider the importance of resilience-building among staff to proactively prevent burnout and its subsequent effects on patient-care and general hospital functioning.