Exhibiting Family-Centered Care

     In addition to class and clinicals, I also work as a Nurse Extern, beyond the classroom. While working one night on an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), I had a patient that was not doing well. Halfway through the night it was determined that her organs were failing, so the family was informed. Due to the new Covid-19 restrictions, only two family members were allowed to visit at a time. This meant I walked each family member up to say their final good-byes. During these walks, I was given the opportunity to learn more about the patient and listen to stories the family would tell me. I never had a conversation with my patient, but I felt like she was a dear friend by the last walk. This is an experience I would have never been introduced to if the restrictions were not in place. In a reflection paper (attached below as a BTC artifact), I discuss how this shift has impacted my future career as a nurse. In my future nursing practice, I will prioritize family-centered care because I have seen the detrimental effects of when it is absent. 

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     Family-centered care endorses the utilization of support systems and the patient on a psychosocial level. For example, in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing (NURS411) we learn that a goal for families is to learn effective ways to cope together and to maximize positive interactions among one another. In my previous example, a daughter had to say goodbye to her father over Facetime. That is not providing adequate family-centered care, and the repercussions of that could present in poor coping mechanisms of the family members leading to decreased resiliency. 

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     During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital policies have continued to change, sometimes daily during the beginning of the pandemic. In March 2020, healthcare workers were unsure how to manage COVID-19, so the doors to the hospital closed to visitors. No one was allowed in unless it was truly an emergency. The hospital beds quickly filled with COVID-19 illness. The patients were not doing well, and besides nursing staff, these patients had no other means of support. There were many times when patients were passing away alone, similar to my previous example of the daughter and her father on FaceTime before he passed that night. COVID-19 has given frontline workers no choice than to become creative to allow more communication between family members. Regardless of creativity, this still provides a very reduced level of family-centered care. 

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     I have learned that family or friend involvement in patient care promotes better health outcomes. When patients are admitted to the hospital, they are sick or hurt, so attempting to remember instructions from doctors or nurses is not an ideal situation. When someone is with the patient who can re-educate the patient when they get home, this will ultimately help reduce the risk of the patient being readmitted. Also, having a loved one with the patient promotes hopefulness, which also improves the outcome of the patient.

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     Upon admission to the hospital, there is a section in the paperwork, that asks about discharge information. An important part of discharge planning is determining if the patient has an adequate support system to assist with providing care. During my beyond the classroom experience though clinical, I have learned how nurses provide resources that are applicable for different patient situations. When patients have altered mental status and are admitted to the hospital, nurses call the family for information. Therefore, when the patient is ready to be discharged, it is imperative there is someone to take the educational leaflets and knowledge to continue to care for the family member. This is why family-centered care is an important part of nursing and why I will implement this practice into my future nursing career.