We have a 25 bed med/surg/cardiovascular surg unit in a level one trauma center and visiting hours have been a nightmare. Now the unit is locked with phones outside the doors. It's terribly inconvenient to have to answer the phones, check with the requested patient's nurse, and unlock the doors for every visitor. It's also very frustrating for the families. There is no consistency and frequently there are visitors in the unit during change of shift report. In your open visitation policy do you limit the number of visitors? Do you limit to immediate family? Do you allow children? I feel that part of our problem is the diversity in the level of care needed by our patients - from drug overdoses and DKA, to CABG, IABP, and major trauma patients.