title: The influence of Nightingale rounding by the liaison nurse on surgical patient families with attention to differing cultural needs.
abstract: This article is a tribute to Florence Nightingale whose book Notes on Nursing was published 150 years ago in 1860. Nightingale was a proponent of rounding on patients to ensure their environment contributed to healing. Patients and their families experience greater satisfaction when a registered nurse rounds on them. The liaison nurse provides the connection between a surgical patient and the family in the waiting room. This activity promotes communication and spiritual support for family members who will participate in patient care both during hospitalization and after the patient returns home. Nursing theorists support the interconnectedness that takes place during rounding. Story theory directs the nurse to connect with the patient's story so that holistic care, recognizing body, mind, and spirit, can take place. High-touch/low-tech as practiced in Asia includes nurse-family interaction, integrating knowledge about the patient's history and preferences with nursing assessment, planning, interventions, and evaluation of care. Nursing diagnoses support critical thinking for the nurse during rounding and interaction with family members. Hospice care includes family stories, humor, and the comfort of presence of loved ones.
authors.affiliation: Liaison Nurse Initiative, Keller, TX 76248, USA. pneils@mac.com
authors.forename: Priscilla E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Neils
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006676:History of Nursing; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D018939:Holistic Nursing / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000266:history*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research / Q000266:history; D009742:Nursing Theory; D013527:Perioperative Nursing / Q000266:history*; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing / Q000266:history*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000451:nursing; D013782:Textbooks as Topic / Q000266:history