By Kathy Wieliczko, Director of Patient Care Management

On this particular day, Sandra Lehner of Holderness is resting comfortably in a hospital bed
playing the role of the patient. Standing around her are several nurses from Speare Memorial Hospital’s Medical Surgical Unit engaged in conversation about Sandra’s pretend condition. They are preparing to roll out their new bedside reporting practice. As a Family Advisor, Sandra is there to react and provide feedback from the patient perspective on everything from eye contact with her and language used, to how well they actually engage her in the discussion about her condition. From this role playing exercise, the nurses can refine their bedside reporting process to maximize the patient-centered care experience.

Bedside reporting at change of shift is becoming the standard of care at many hospitals as, nationwide, healthcare moves toward a more patient-centered care approach. The process involves the current nurse giving a thorough report of the patient to the oncoming nurse at the patient’s bedside. Research has shown there to be many benefits of bedside reporting. First and foremost is an increase in patient safety and quality of care. The patient is more involved in, and informed of, their plan of care, and caregiver trust is increased as the patient is reassured that all of their information and concerns are addressed.

A Family Advisor is an individual who has been a patient, or family member of a patient, at Speare. They volunteer to be a part of the Family Advisory Council which meets on a regular basis to help Speare Memorial Hospital in their clinical care and quality service improvement efforts by centering in on the end user of healthcare—the patient. A Family Advisor will partner with clinical teams and committees ensuring that the patient experience is present at all levels of policy and procedure development.

Having the Family Advisor participating in the education sessions as nursing prepared to start bedside reporting was a unique opportunity. It allowed nurses to genuinely focus on the patient’s perspective and how they might feel about the process. The Medical Surgical unit is very excited about this change in practice and hope that our patients and families feel even better cared for during their time with us at Speare.