Comprehensive Study of Systems that Support the Families of Patients in the Hospital

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The purpose of this study was to identify appropriate systems that support the families of hospital inpatients. The results were as follows.1.The results of interviews with 45 families of hospital inpatients and outpatients showed that the families had difficulties in all areas of their lives related to the care of the hospitalized family member. They cared for the patients without support from persons outside of the family, and they worried about the physicians, nurses, neighbors, coworkers, other family members and the patients in same room as their family members.2.The results of a survey on caring for families among 333 nurse administrators in hospitals and communities show that nurse administrators in the communities are more supportive of families and evaluated their caring for the family more positively than their counterparts in hospitals. Most nurse administrators in hospitals think of families as part of the background of the patient, but those in the communities realize that families also need care and support.3.In the USA, advanced hospitals concerned with family caring have a system that places case managers in the wards. They support families consistently from admission to discharge by coordinating professionals in their hospitals, providing education about patient care, conducting discharge planning, etc. The discharge planning sections of some hospitals in Japan support patients and families who are expected to have some problems after discharge. One of the most important functions of these sections is to refer patients and families to health and welfare organizations and other professionals in their communities.These results indicate that the nurse case manager system is an appropriate system to support families of hospital patients. Political issues to support families in hospital in the future were discussed.