The non-medical aspects of patient care

[LiveZen]

How would you term the non medical parts of patient care? I'm a pre-nursing student, and I'm working on a paper about technology like the Caring-bridge type websites, the "concierge" nursing concept, use of television, etc. It's really for an English class, but I want to make sure I'm using the correct terminology. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you have any other ideas of hot technology in this area, I would appreciate the suggestions.

NC

[LiveZen]

The term adjuvent is a lot closer to what I'm thinking of....thanks!

Yeah, I do see where you're coming from on the peds vs. adult care. I volunteer at a mid-sized Children's Hospital in Ohio.All of the in-patient rooms have flat screen wallmounted TVs...most of them have Playstation 2's (which are also DVD players)...we have an in-house movie channel that shows kid friendly movies (ones not too long out of theaters!)..we have a daily craft time and three playrooms...even the ER rooms have Nintendo systems and TVs...the food menu is geared towards what kids normally eat.

Could it be that hospitals need to focus more on the general adult population's entertainment/engagement and not just that of the upper-classes? Maybe it's time for more services for them? How about movie channels for the grown-ups? Or meals that are like what adults normally eat? Or a department similar to the standard Child Life dept of children's hospitals?

I'm sure this is a topic that will not be going away soon. I think it's very interesting, hence choosing the topic as my paper. I am really excited about nursing (Starting nursing school in march) and am loving finding ways to integrate learning nursing stuff into my other classes!

[brandnewjerseyrn]

The hospital I work at has a floor called the pavilionwhich is for patients that pay an additional $500 (I think) a night for more "upscale" care. They not only have the usual nursing care but they have a concierge, a chef that cooks food like lobster tails for dinner, they have a massage therapist that comes around, they have better linens than the rest of the hospital, etc. I myself have never seen the pavilion but I know that it is very controversial in our hospital. The pavilion has a certain number of designated beds and our hospital always is overcrowded but they refuse to put people who won't pay the extra bucks into the pavilion, resulting in patients waiting in the er for a few days for beds on the other floors, while there are usually 6-8 empty beds in the pavilion. The medical and nursing care is no different but they just pay the extra money for all the upscale stuff.