Family-centered care is becoming a familiar concept. It is defined by the Institute of Family Centered Care in Bethesda, MD, as: "an innovative approach to the planning, delivery, and evaluation of health care that is grounded in mutually beneficial partnerships among health care patients, families, and providers."
Some health care facilities provide medical treatment to people throughout the United States, while others serve those who live in the surrounding neighborhood. Whatever the demographics, it is important for a family advisory council to represent the diversity of patients and families served, states Cezanne Garcia, MPH, senior program and resource specialist for the Institute of Family Centered Care in Bethesda, MD.
Do you work with a unit on education resources for a homogeneous patient population? Do you find that the bedside nurses on this unit struggle with time management because they are repeating the same patient instructions to almost every patient they care for? Is it possible for patients on this unit to leave their room and go to a centralized location for about 30 minutes or so?
