The time restriction on visits to pediatric ICUs violates one of the rights contained in the European Charter on Hospitalized Children. That is why the Spanish Federation of Parents of Children with Cancer (FEPNC) demands that the Government and the Autonomous Communities allow children to be accompanied by a family member in these Units for more hours a day.
The right referred to is the third one: 'right to be accompanied by their parents or by the person who replaces them as much as possible during their stay in the hospital, ... the exercise of this right should not in any way harm or impede the application of the treatments to which there are to subdue the child '. This organization is developing an awareness campaign aimed at the defenders of the people and responsible for health of all autonomies.
A greater time span would allow children to have the presence of their relatives, while the latter could continue with their other usual activities
Several international studies show that when families are involved in the care of small patients, and also the policy of the hospital is 'open visits', they occur positive consequences on patient recovery. The president of the FEPNC (Pilar Ortega) says that stress and anxiety levels are also reduced.
The campaign we are talking about arises after a study carried out by the aforementioned federation that analyzes the visiting hours in pediatric ICUs of 25 Spanish hospitals. It has been proven that only in 10 the schedule is open and flexible, in another nine, the visiting hours range between four and 10 hours, while the rest have between an hour and a half and three a day.
Sincerely, I hope that this claim will prosper, the stressful situation that causes a child to be in the ICU requires more presence of relatives by his side, there is no better way to feel comforted.
