Lay summary
Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) is stressful for patients and whānau and causing distress, anxiety, depression and complicated grief. In Aotearoa, in-person visiting is not always feasible due to geographical distances; hospital policies around visiting; work and caregiving commitments; and frailty, disability and socioeconomic considerations. Critical connections to whānau and home are disrupted. Virtual visiting (VV) using video-assisted calling on designated devices allows whānau to see patients in hospital, participate in care meetings and rehabilitation sessions, and by allowing patients to see home, whānau who cannot visit, see pets and attend cultural or spiritual gatherings.
We wish to explore whether VV can help maintain connections between ICU patients and whānau. We will survey ICUs in Aotearoa to see if they currently offer VV and how; we will also interview people who have been patients in ICU, whānau and staff who work in ICU to understand their perspectives on VV.