PEMBROKE – Especially in times of crisis, patients want to have regular access to those they consider “family” which is why the Pembroke Regional Hospital made changes to its visitor policy nearly a decade ago.
“We began to look at our policy as a result of feedback received through our Rehabilitation program which indicated that family members had a desire to not only stay longer with our patients, but also to be more involved in their care – basically it was an expectation that they could stay,” said Sabine Mersmann, Vice-President of Patient Services – Seniors and Community Care.
“And from the health care side, we wanted them there so that they could learn what was required of them in a caregiving role – and we encouraged them to live together in our independent living suite to prepare them for life in a home environment,” Ms. Mersmann said, adding that once changes were implemented it was agreed that there was no reason this couldn’t be expanded to other programs.
Hospital President and CEO Pierre Noel said Pembroke Regional Hospital was among the first in the province to go that route in 2007 after the challenges posed by SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had passed. “While other hospitals have made exceptions to their policies all along, only now are many of them developing ‘Family Presence’ policies to formalize the process and guidelines,” Mr. Noel said.
Much of that was prompted last fall when the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement launched a “Better Together” campaign aimed at changing the way health care providers understand the role of family caregivers at the bedside when their loved one is in hospital.
While it was recognized as part of the campaign that implementing family presence policies requires due consideration of the patient experience, patient and staff safety, confidentiality and staffing levels among other factors, the result would enable patients to designate family members or other caregivers to participate in their care as partners and have unrestricted access to them while hospitalized.
In order to accommodate this at PRH, a distinction was made between those our patients consider to be “family” and regular visitors. As part of this, the definition of “family” was revised to include parents, grandparents, spouse or significant other or guardian, child, brother, sister, or the individuals that the patient designates as most significant to their care and who they define as immediate family.
At PRH, those considered to be family members by the patients are welcome at any time to participate in care or to offer reassurance and support. A maximum of two family members are welcome at any one time on in-patient units, unless otherwise discussed with the care team. Hours for family visiting are decided on between the patient and his/her care team and a patient’s requested visitor restrictions are respected.
Public visitors are welcome, two at a time, to visit between 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. However, a patient’s care team is happy to look at ways to accommodate exceptions for compassionate reasons, taking into account the health of the patient and the safety aspect of being in a hospital environment versus the benefits of social interaction for support and morale.
“As an integral part of our patient-centred care model, Pembroke Regional Hospital recognizes that family play a vital role in patient care and we continue to assist in facilitating this for those in our care,” Mr. Noel said.
