Introduction
So far, articles and books have explored extensively the needs of patient’s families and the need for change in the practice. However, only a few publications have been made on how to make family-centered care work for the patients. The following article is a summary of some hands-on ways of both improving and carrying out family-centered care in the critical care environment. This information is critical to any medical practitioner who is committed to the development of family-centered care (Henneman & Cardin ,2002).
Family members of critically ill patients have certain needs which are well researched and established. For instance, they need updated information on what is ailing their loved ones, they need reassurance and support especially when there is hope for recovery and they also need to stay close to the patient( Henneman & Cardin ,2002). Despite the documentation and proof of these facts, many organizations still find it difficult to carry out a family-centered critical care successfully. In order to do this successfully, care should be focused on the family as compared to the more traditional model where care was centered on the patient.
The current health care systems discourages family-centered critical care due to features such as; consumerism, shorter stays of patients in the intensive care unit and the hospital and shortages of nurses. Because of this, family members are forced to take an active role in the planning for care of their loved ones. Family members are extensively giving direct care to the patients as they do not stay in hospitals any longer (Henneman & Cardin ,2002). The shortage of nurses also shows that family members have to do most of the medical care for their loved one themselves. This shows that it would be a grave mistake to fail to incorporate family members in the holistic plan for the care of patients.
The following information, based on both research and experience of medical workers, is a summary of practical options that clinicians and administrators can employ in order to carry out successful family-focused care (Henneman & Cardin ,2002).:
• Know the true meaning of family-centred critical care:
There has been much misunderstanding over what family-centered care really entails. Many medical practitioners erroneously perceive family-centered care with open visiting. On the contrary, family centered care is a care criteria that recognizes what the family of the patients needs and how important their role is in the wellbeing of the patient.
• Know the actual needs of the family
As mentioned earlier, these needs include: updated information on what is ailing their loved ones, reassurance and support especially when there is hope for recovery and they also need to stay close to the patient in order to witness how their family member is being cared for.
• Incorporation of family-focused values into the units standards and policies
Units carrying out family-focused intensive care should be clear about who and what they are especially to the families by including this in their standards and policies.
• Use of hospital resources for the provision of family-centred care
All hospital staff members should be trained on how to carry out family-centered care effectively so as to release the overdependence on nurses. Programs concerning how to take care of the needs of the family members should involve the whole medical team.
• Tools to assist with family-focused care
Tools such as booklets and checklists have been proposed as effective ways of meeting the information needs of the patient’s families.
• Family issues should not be misunderstood with security or issues of confidentiality
• Consistency in dealing with the patient’s families;
The information given to the patient’s family should be consistent, for example, the visiting hours should be clearly set out.
• Family-focused care should be a multidisciplinary effort;
Family-centered care should not be viewed as a nursing responsibility. All members in contact with the patient must be involved.
• The need for continued attention and support should be recognized;
The family-focused unit should provide ongoing care to the patient and be ready to learn and take care of any arising factors that need their attention.
Conclusion
It is high time that medical institutions embraced family-focused intensive care into their programs. Both patients and their family members have basic and specific needs that have to be addressed in order to provide a more wholesome medical care. Strategies for the implementation of this kind of care are simple, as shown above, but they require a point of view that identifies both the needs of the families and the patient and a consistency in meeting these needs (Henneman & Cardin ,2002).
References
Henneman, E. A & Cardin S., (2002). Family-Centered Critical Care: A Practical Approach to Making It Happen. Critical Care Nurse December 2002 vol. 22 no. 6 12-19. Retrieved from http://ccn.aacnjournals.org/content/22/6/12.short
