Difficult Seasons

Son by the Patient's Side

It’s easy to focus on the patient when you’re making a hospital visit.  After all, that’s the reason you went in the first place.

But it’s critically important to also focus part of your time and attention on family members who might be present during your visit.

Start by taking the time to introduce yourself to them, shake hands, and understand how they’re related to the patient.

Then as you’re conversing with the patient, involve the other family members in your conversation by making frequent eye contact with them and perhaps asking them an occasional question.

I nearly always inquire about how the family members are doing, about how they’re dealing with what’s going on.  I also generally try to inquire about whether they’re getting enough rest and taking care of themselves. Sometimes I even try to catch them when they’re out of the room so they can talk freely.

This isn’t just to be nice.

• Family members who are providing care for someone in the hospital are under a lot of stress, often much more than the patients themselves.  Often they’re sleeping in a chair in the room with the patient (if you can call that sleeping).  They may be eating off the patient’s tray, or grabbing something quick from the hospital cafeteria.

• And on top of that, the family members are the ones who are generally managing all of the information and details about the patient’s care, being an advocate for the patient with the hospital staff, and in many cases having to make decisions about that care.  In fact, someone who is in the hospital without a family member or friend to manage all the stuff and to be an advocate for them is in for a difficult time.

So as you’re ministering and showing love to a hospital patient, make it a point to do the same with their family members and friends who are attending them.

They, and you, will be blessed as a result.

Tags: Care Giving, family, hosptial visits

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 4:38 am and is filed under hospital visits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.