title: Partners in caring: a partnership for healing.
abstract: This article describes one organization's effort to create a family-friendly environment that supports the choice of patients for involvement of a family member or loved one in their care. Changing a culture requires a process that can emotionally drive the caregivers to agree with the need to change and sustain the efforts over a long period. This project, Partners in Caring, describes the philosophy, the journey of changing a culture, and the results achieved over a 7-year period. The Partners in Caring philosophy is "a commitment between a patient, care partner and healthcare team to a relationship of hands-on support based on compassion, communication and choice empowering people to heal in a nurturing manner." This concept laid a foundation for the development of a new model of care, which is described. The implementation has resulted in an improved patient and staff satisfaction and a decrease in patient complaints.
authors.affiliation: Adult Acute Care, Banner Desert Medical Center, Mesa, AZ 85202, USA. Paula.Durston@bannerhealth.com
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Durston
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004645:Empathy; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012944:Social Support; D014789:Visitors to Patients / Q000523:psychology*