Background: Sudden cardiac arrest is the third most common cause of death in Europe. The nurse has a significant role in the work of the resuscitation team. It is often the nurse who is the first among the medical staff to discover cardiac arrest. In the last two decades, research has shown the importance of family presence during resuscitation (FPDR), it can for example aid the family members in their grieving process as well as allow them to support the patient. Family presence is routine if the patient is a child, but not if the patient is an adult.

Aim: The aim was to map the nurse's experiences and perceptions of NBHLR in adult patients in hospital wards.

Method: A literature review with qualitative content analysis based on research-based on both qualitative and quantitative data on thirteen original articles. Two themes and subthemes emerged in the result.

Results: The research in this area showed no clear explanations for why CPR is not used more frequently for adult patients. Education or lack of education, for example, did not have a significant impact on the use of NBHLR. Several of the nurses were worried about how the family members would be affected by attending CPR.

Conclusion: More research and knowledge are needed regarding NBHLR. An important area of research could be to find out more in detail about why NBHLR works well in some cases and what would convince the nurse to invite family members to attend.