Patients and families are looking to you for information, guidance, reassurance and simple compassion. No doubt, you strive to meet all these needs as you juggle care for several patients, and administrative tasks as well. after discharge[1].
Today I am going to touch on three ideas to get the conversation started about how to engage patient care partners to be really active, trained participants in their loved ones’ care.
Let’s take the example of infections in the hospital.
Head – start with the facts
Get with the patient and the patient’s family members and share some facts prior to a hospital stay. Remind patients that hospitals and hotels are public places. Infections are common, but preventable, especially with their help. Explain early signs of infection so that they are aware of what to look for.
Heart – connect with your patients
Have empathetic discussions with the patients and their care partners and open yourself up for help from them. Tell them it is OK to support your conscientious hand-washing practices by asking everyone who comes in the room to use gel or wash up. Tell them that they know the early signs of infection and that it is OK to call you anytime to alert you because it is better safe than sorry.
Hands – provide tools
You can start this process prior to a hospital stay by giving them advice to wash their bodies for several days before an admission/surgery with chlorhexidine soap. Once in the hospital, give them tools and jobs to do during the times when their loved one is resting and they could use something to control. Provide them with alcohol wipes and bleach wipes and tell them that throughout the stay it would be great for them to clean doorknobs, bedrails, the bed tray, the restroom bars. Your environmental services workers may do these things, but they can be done more. Tell them they can help their loved one by helping to wash the patient’s hands frequently, especially before meals. Remind them to continue these practices at home.
This is just one example of patient engagement that can assist hospital staff, give the patients some control, and prevent infections/readmissions. Want more ideas? See www.campaignzero.org.
Reference
[1] Curtiss, K; Foley, M; McWiliams, S. (2013) Safe & Sound Nursing Tools for Family Engagement and Patient-Centered Care. PartnerHealth. Lake Forest, IL.
Our Guest Blogger this week is Meredith Masel, PhD, MSW, UTMB Oliver Center for Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare.
Join us for a real-time discussion about questions raised by this essay on Tuesday at from 12:00 p.m. CST to 12:45 p.m. CST (10 a.m. PST/SLT). See Discussion and SL tabs above for details. Link to the virtual meeting room: http://tinyurl.com/cjfx9ag.
Image Source: Together Wherever We Go. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.305330).
Rodger Marion 
January 29, 2014 at 8:01 am
Transcript of Weekly Discussion on Aging, 1-28-14. Held in Second Life
[10:01] Rodger Markova: Hello Colie
[10:01] Cᴏʟɪᴇ (ElizabethNicole Resident): Hello!
[10:01] Rodger Markova: Welcome to the discussion on aging
[10:01] Tim (tskillian Resident): Hello Colie
[10:01] Cᴏʟɪᴇ (ElizabethNicole Resident): thank you
[10:04] donkotronic Resident: hello everyone
[10:05] Tim (tskillian Resident): hi donko.
[10:05] donkotronic Resident: hello
[10:05] donkotronic Resident: 😀
[10:06] Rodger Markova: We are going to discuss the blog that is on the media screen
[10:08] Rodger Markova: This week’s blog is written from the perspective of a provider and how he/she can help family members to contribute to the care of their relatives who are patients
[10:09] Rodger Markova: I think it shows an insight not often seen as providers are often told to involved family but rarely are they taught how to train family members to be useful
[10:09] Tim (tskillian Resident): Very good. I sometimes wonder how prepared family caregivers are to provide care. It seems that we expect a great deal from family caregivers.
[10:11] Tim (tskillian Resident): yes — how often is that done do you think Rodger?
[10:11] Rodger Markova: I think it’s quite frequent that the burden of care falls on family members and often they are not prepared
[10:13] Tim (tskillian Resident): One of the things I am studying is Aging in Place. It is quite controversial. It is not clear that AIP is an advantage and one reason is that family members don’t have the training to support their family members.
[10:13] Rodger Markova: Right. What seems to be the limitations?
[10:15] Tim (tskillian Resident): Although older persons and their families want to age in place, family members are not given the training that they need to provide adequate care. I think that specific limitations vary quite a lot.
[10:15] Rodger Markova: I think so too.
[10:16] Tim (tskillian Resident): Caregivers themselves can also be quite old and have their own health problems limiting care, such as transferring.
[10:16] Rodger Markova: Yes, that’s a real issue
[10:18] Rodger Markova: Oops, we lost Colie. Donko? Can you relate to this topic?
[10:20] donkotronic Resident: well my parents are still able to care for themselves and each other which is great
[10:20] Rodger Markova: Yes, that’s great
[10:21] donkotronic Resident: but they don’t live near me, so i do wonder about the challenge of relocating if one of them needs help in the future
[10:21] Rodger Markova: Yes, that’s a quandary many people face
[10:21] Tim (tskillian Resident): good question.
[10:21] donkotronic Resident: if only teleporting was available in RL
[10:22] Tim (tskillian Resident): LOL — yes that would be nice!
[10:22] Rodger Markova: yes, that would be so handy.
[10:22] Tim (tskillian Resident): How far away are they?
[10:23] donkotronic Resident: about a 12 hr. drive. I’m in WI and they’re in Arkansas
[10:23] Rodger Markova: Yes, still a fair distance
[10:24] Tim (tskillian Resident): That is a long drive..
[10:24] donkotronic Resident: I’ve tried to get them to use Skype for video chat, but they’re a little old fashioned. i think video chat can help a lot with emotional care
[10:24] Rodger Markova: Yes, that’s a great idea
[10:25] Tim (tskillian Resident): Interesting — so, you are finding they are resistant to the technology?
[10:25] donkotronic Resident: to an extent yeah
[10:27] Rodger Markova: Overcoming resistance to technology is a real challenge
[10:27] Tim (tskillian Resident): My parents are avid Facebook users
[10:27] Tim (tskillian Resident): it helps to keep in touch with them
[10:27] donkotronic Resident: yes my parents are willing to use Facebook and email which is nice
[10:27] Rodger Markova: yes
[10:29] Tim (tskillian Resident): I think my sister will be the primary caregiver should my parents need it.
[10:29] Tim (tskillian Resident): primarily because she lives closer to them
[10:29] Rodger Markova: Yes, that role often falls to women
[10:29] Tim (tskillian Resident): 🙂 — it is usually women
[10:30] Tim (tskillian Resident): I would like to think that is not why in our family, but it probably has something to do with it.
[10:31] donkotronic Resident: for me it would be mobility, I have a job where I can relocate, whereas my sister is pretty much stuck where she is running a small business
[10:31] Rodger Markova: yes, I agree. We still carry cultural stereotypes but things are changing.
[10:31] donkotronic Resident: and with this weather we’re having in WI, hot springs sounds pretty good right now, lol
[10:31] Rodger Markova: Yes, work is often the center and one has to fit family around it
[10:32] Rodger Markova: Might be cold in Ark today
[10:32] Tim (tskillian Resident): Fayetteville is pretty cold today too, Donko — but, I am sure it is warmer than Wisconsion. 🙂
[10:32] Tim (tskillian Resident): *Wisconsin
[10:33] Rodger Markova: Yes, it’s freezing now in Texas but nothing like up North where you are
[10:33] donkotronic Resident: yeah I’m sure it’s at least a little warmer. This arctic blast is getting real old 😛
[10:33] donkotronic Resident: -10 right now
[10:33] Tim (tskillian Resident): oh wow!
[10:33] donkotronic Resident: oh wait it warmed up, it’s 0. looking at a low of -18 or something
[10:34] Tim (tskillian Resident): yes — we are warmer than that, but you are right. it is getting old.
[10:34] Rodger Markova: It’s a balmy 31F here
[10:34] Rodger Markova: I’m thinking about a t-shirt and some flip flops
[10:35] Tim (tskillian Resident): LOL — narrows my eyes at Rodger — don’t rub it in. 🙂
[10:38] donkotronic Resident: I gotta get going, friends. Thanks for having me
[10:38] Tim (tskillian Resident): Thanks for coming Donko
[10:38] donkotronic Resident: you too 😀
[10:39] Tim (tskillian Resident): have nice day.
[10:39] Rodger Markova: Bye