Last month I interviewed Mary Lou Powell, Rex Healthcare's Senior VP of Patient Care Services and Nursing for an article. She was most interesting to talk to, and said something that makes fuel for a good discussion. When I asked Powell what we could do to improve our hospital care, one answer was that families should come up with a system to be involved with their hospitalized ones. "That will be the wave of the future," Powell said.
Picture a spouse, parent, or adult child competently filing in for an aide. It evokes something out of a Victorian novel where the family keeps a vigil by the bedside of the sick.
Years ago my mother stayed with me five days post surgery. Mostly she hollered for the nurse when I needed something and oversaw that staff did things right. I don't think this is what Powell was thinking.
Then there's family members that can be more needy than the patient. And what about the family caretaker who thinks they know better than the nurse? And doesn't.
How could this type of partnership be made to work?
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