Visitor behaviors can influence the risk of patient harm: an analysis of patient safety reports from 92 hospitals.

Families and caregivers play an important role in patient safety. This study analyzed incident report data and found that behavior from families and caregivers visiting a patient increased the risk of patient harm in 36% of cases and decreased the risk of harm in the remaining 64% of cases. Certain visitor behaviors (such as moving the patient) increased patient harm, including falls and medication-related events. Other behaviors, such as communicating with healthcare staff, decreased patient harm.