Family-Centered Care

I recently had to take my youngest daughter to an oral surgeon to have a tooth pulled. After the initial consultation we felt pretty comfortable so we proceeded in making the actual appointment to have the procedure done.( I was able to get the day off of work which is hard for me to do) Now in the big scheme of things it really was no big deal having a tooth pulled but as you can imagine my daughter was just a little nervous.

When we arrived the day of the appointment the oral surgeon, who I might add was "old school" and had been practicing a long time, began to inform me that I would not be able to stay in the room during the procedure! I informed him I was a nurse, she would do better with me in the room as I served as a sort of confidence boost for her. Nothing! He would not budge on his stance!

Well, long story short we went ahead with the procedure and he agreed my daughter could text me during the procedure while I went to the waiting room. All went well but when we got to the car my daughter broke down bawling due to the stress it placed on her by not allowing me in the room. The fact of the matter was I knew my daughter better than anyone and if he would have listened to me the process would have been so much better for my daughter, the patient. Not to mention me as her mom.

It has been about six months ago, and even now as I recall what happened, I get angered by him and his lack of listening to his patient. This scenario would never had happened if this oral surgeon valued patient family centered care.

Patient-family centered care, what does that phrase mean to you? Better yet, what does it entail for us as healthcare professionals?

Family-centered care is an approach to the delivery of how we provide healthcare where patients, their families and the health care staff are partners in the care of the patient. Patient-family-centered care is an ongoing effort throughout the patient's stay and illness. The key components are respect and dignity, information sharing, participation, and collaboration.

The hospital I am employed by as a pediatric Vascular access nurse uses the family-centered care model and it has provided me opportunities to firsthand experience some of the benefits of allowing the families to be actively part of the treatment process. There are two main benefits that I have seen using this approach to healthcare delivery in my practice. They are trust and increased mutual respect between the family and healthcare team. Having said that, there are still some "old school" nurses and physicians that would just assume throw this model to the curb. When you examine, however the benefits that the patient family centered healthcare provides it is hard to imagine providing healthcare any other way.

For instance, one of the many benefits to patient family centered care is better trust. Webster defines trust as the belief that someone is reliable, good and/or honest. These are all qualities any of us would want in a healthcare team that was taking care of us or our loved ones. The big question is how do we gain the trust of families that have never met us before with the lives of their most precious loved ones?

Family centered care is a way to foster rapport and gain trust by involving and being active listeners to the family as they inform us of the patient's history and what has worked best for them in the past. When families arrive at the hospital because their loved one is sick, the last thing they need is for someone to minimize their importance because they are not a medical professional. The fact that they are a caregiver to the patient is valuable and should be treated as such.

When we utilize a patient family centered care model the family is made to feel like they are being listened to and their opinions are valued in regards to the patient's care which increases their confidence and trust in us as healthcare professionals that we care enough to listen, therefore we will surely provide the best care.

As we all know with any relationship, respect is key and as the old saying goes, you have to give respect to get respect. What does giving respect look like for a healthcare professional? It can be as simple as making eye contact or introducing ourselves when we enter a patient's room. Also, it is very important not to view the family as inferior because of a lack of medical knowledge. Listening to the patient and family's views and valuing what their opinions are in regard to the best care for their loved one can only foster respect; this is what family centered care is all about.

In conclusion, being a healthcare professional for over twenty years now I have had the experience of working in facilities that stand by the family centered care model and those that do not. It has been my experience both professionally and personally that this model works. If we are able to put ourselves in someone else's shoes we realize that this is how we would want to be treated if our loved one was sick.