One of the more tragic elements of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the inability of loved ones to be with a family member in the hospital.
With visitors banned to stop the spread of the virus within the hospital, family members have been left with the sadness of only being able to imagine how a patient is, particularly when that patient is intubated and on a ventilator and unable to speak.
Under these circumstances, the nursing staff at Stony Brook University Hospital realized they had no way to get to know their patients to give them more meaningful care. In April, they began to reach out to the patients’ families to gather information about them.
They accumulated details about their interests, such as favorite movies, music, or television shows, to produce a document with the patient’s picture that is then posted inside and outside the room “to help caregivers get to know the patients they are treating, and who cannot communicate for themselves,” according to a release.
More locally, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which has a much smaller number of Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit, has been able to interact more directly with the patients’ families, Barbara Jo Howard, the hospital’s director of communications and marketing, said.
The staff helps the patients in the intensive care and Covid units stay in touch with their families with iPhones supplied by the hospital’s Patient/Family Experience Task Force. The group can be deployed as well in end-of-life situations, Ms. Howard said.
The task force also procured 26 iPads, which patients can use for FaceTime, and other apps as a distraction. An email box has been established for families to send cards, notes, photos, and drawings. The material is printed out and delivered to patients and can be posted on the walls of their rooms. The email address is SBSH_PatientExperience@ stonybrookmedicine.edu.