Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has removed traditional “visiting hours” limitations in favor of giving patients control over who comes to see them, and the timing of those visits. Research indicates patient outcomes improve when they are allowed to choose how and when their loved ones can be present and involved in their care. Former patients played a key role in developing the new Welcoming Policy as members of the Patient- and Family-Centered Care Steering Committee. More than 100 community members serve as patient and family advisors at the UVM Medical Center, helping to develop improvements in care that are grounded in understanding the patients’ point of view.
“Families and loved ones are not ‘visitors’ in the lives of patients, but rather they are essential, valued members of the health care team, and their support is vital to recovery and healing,” said Eileen Whalen, RN, MHA, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center. “This is a great example of the positive impact our patient and family advisors are having throughout the hospital.”
The new policy is based on the understanding that in rooms with two beds, the needs and wishes of both patients must be considered. Features of the new policy include:
- “Family” is defined by the patient, and can include people who are related to them in any way -- biologically, legally or emotionally.
- There are no age restrictions, although children 13 years or younger must be accompanied by a parent or supervising adult.
- The number of loved ones present is dependent on the needs and comfort of the patient.
- Decisions about visitations can be made in consultation with nurses or other members of the health care team.
"This is a positive change that would have directly helped me while caring for my parents when they were admitted to the UVM Medical Center,” said Kelly Waters, a patient and family advisor. “For me and my husband to have to plan around the hospital’s visiting hours, instead of planning around the needs of my mom or dad, didn't make much sense."
Chief Nursing Officer Kate FitzPatrick, RN, says implementing this policy was a top priority for the organization.
“Anyone who has been a patient or has loved ones who have been patients realizes how reassuring and healing it can be to have those people that are important to us at our side during hospitalization. This shift in our approach is based on that understanding.”
“It’s important that we form a partnership with our patients and their loved ones,” said Deborah Hebert, RN, nurse manager of the Medical Intensive Care Unit. “Changing our visiting policy reflects that we’re trying to do things with our patients and families, rather than to them or for them.”
“I want to thank our patient and family advisors for their help in making this and other improvements in care become a reality,” said Lauren Tronsgard-Scott, RN, director of Women's Care and Pediatrics. “They are having a very positive impact on how we deliver care.”
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a 447-bed tertiary care regional referral center providing advanced care to approximately 1 million residents in Vermont and northern New York. Together with our partners at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, we are Vermont’s academic medical center.The University of Vermont Medical Center also serves as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, an integrated system established to deliver high quality academic medicine to every community we serve. Our partners are:
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Medical Group
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
Source: UVMMC 6.15.2017. For more information visit www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter.