Sibling Presence in the PICU: Single-Site Point Prevalence Study
Jessica Appleyard, Beverley Copnell, Alyssia Haling, Joseph C. Manning, Ashleigh E. ButlerObjectives:
To determine the point prevalence of PICU patients with siblings, and if they have siblings, whether they visited the PICU and their interactions.
Design:
A single-site point prevalence study conducted in a specialist Australian PICU. Survey data were collected at eight time points over a 3-week period, from February 13, 2025, to March 4, 2025. Eight PPS time points included four weekdays and four weekend days. The survey was completed by bedside PICU nurses who collected information on patient characteristics, the existence of siblings, details related to sibling visits in the PICU, and any nursing staff concerns. Data were summarized using descriptive and inferential statistics. Associations between variables were investigated using chi-square and Mann-Whitney
Setting:
A 22-bed quaternary care PICU in Australia.
Patients:
All patients were admitted to the PICU at the point of data collection.
Interventions:
None.
Measurements and Main Results:
The survey was completed for 159 of 163 patients (97.5%) admitted to the PICU on a prevalence study day. Overall, 100 of 159 patients (62.9%) had siblings. Only 28 of 100 patients (28%) had one or more siblings visit on a prevalence study day: eight sibling visits occurred on weekdays and 20 on weekends. A total of 32 siblings visited these 28 patients. Siblings of 1–4 years old visited more often than other age groups. We failed to identify an association between the occurrence of a sibling visit and distance from the hospital, patient length of stay, or intubation status.
Conclusions:
In this point prevalence study carried out on our PICU in Australia, in 2025, we found that around two-thirds of admissions had siblings. However, sibling visits were limited, primarily occurring on weekends. Our results will inform future planning of PICU family-centered care models with out-of-hours professional support.