The menu given to family members of patients
in the Weinberg intensive care unit
(WICU) for surgical oncology at Johns
Hopkins Hospital is unlike any they’ve
probably seen before. It doesn’t list food options,
nor does it ask about environmental preferences.
Instead, it offers opportunities for family members
to become part of the patient-care team.
Called the Family Involvement Menu, the tool
lists 10 daily care activities that family members
are invited (but not required) to help with,
ranging in intensity from pillow repositioning,
feeding assistance and range-of-motion exercise
to providing necessary oral care for patients on
ventilators to prevent life-threatening infections.
“The idea is to acknowledge that patients’ families
and loved ones are very much the experts in the
room when it comes to knowing what they want
and need,” according to former WICU nurse
Rhonda Wyskiel, who currently serves as innovation
coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Armstrong
Institute for Patient Safety & Quality.
Wyskiel conceived the menu idea and developed
it in collaboration with other nursing staff in the
20-bed unit.
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