At Mount Sinai Hospital, patients and their families are at the core of everything we do. Patient and Family-Centred Care (PFCC) is an approach to health care based on partnerships among patients, families and health-care providers. The core principles of PFCC are dignity and respect, information sharing, participation and collaboration.

In September 2008, Carnett Howell, acting General and Internal Medicine (GIM) Clinical Nurse Specialist on 12 South and 17 North and South, played a lead role in starting bedside rounds in the Hospital’s GIM department. The rounds allow patients and their families to actively participate in care, care planning and discharge planning.

During bedside rounds, the team of physicians, nurses, clinicians and allied health professionals meet by the patient’s bed for five to 10 minutes to discuss the patient’s progress, care plan and concerns. Families are welcome to participate in the process. The rounds currently take place on 12 South and 17 North and South with one patient and family each week, with hopes of expanding to all patients in GIM in the future.

“The patients and their families love it,” says Howell. “The rounds give them the opportunity to raise questions and to have a better understanding of their care plan.”

Patients are chosen for the program based on several criteria, such as whether they have a clear discharge plan, whether they have complex issues or concerns, as well as how complicated their medicine plans are. Patients and their families are asked to write down three goals and questions before the round takes place. 

“The greatest benefit of bedside rounds is that patients and their families become the focus,” says Jill Pascoe, Social Worker. “The rounds provide a forum for everyone to be on the same page and move forward collaboratively.”

Pascoe says the focus of health care is changing from thinking of medical and allied teams as the sole experts on patient care. It is also important to use the expertise of patients and their families during treatment.

“Clinicians know what the continuum of care should be for a patient but patients are experts in their lives,” says Pascoe. “Bedside rounds provide the patient with the opportunity to tell the health-care team what needs to happen for them to continue the care plan at home.”