Training Parent Facilitators
By Martha Curley
for the Cardiovascular Critical Care Nursing Program at Children's Hospital Boston

It took many years for hospitals to accept that allowing parents to be with their ill children at any time of day or night not only would not be disruptive of hospital procedures, but would in fact make staff’s jobs easier, while providing vital emotional support to these young patients. The next frontiers for parent participation may be emergency and acute care units. While understanding the pain and frustration that parents experience at being parted from a child about to undergo an invasive procedure or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, many clinicians fear that allowing parents to be present will be distracting or disruptive.

How can hospitals accommodate parents’ wish to be present and provide support to their child, while ensuring that clinicians are not prevented from delivering optimum care? A multidisciplinary group at Children’s Hospital Boston have developed an innovative program to train selected staff members — nurses, therapists, social workers, clergy, or others — to support parents whose children are undergoing such treatments.

At the core of the training process shown in this DVD are intensely realistic simulations of acute care situations in which staff members interact with specially trained actors who portray the parents. Following the simulation, a committee of staff members review the simulation with the trainee. The actors — still in their character as parents — provide supportive feedback. One says of the facilitator: “You were sort of like the ‘parent whisperer’.”

One of the lessons stressed is that staff need to create respectful relationship in which parents, too, can do their jobs. Another is that being present may not be best for all parents, but that it needs to be the parents’ choice — and that whatever they choose, they should not feel judged. The goal is to enable each parent to be the best parent they can be under the circumstances.

The DVD also includes extended examples of the two training simulations. Scenario One (13 minutes) is the case of a five-year-old in intensive care, who is now experiencing increasing respiratory distress after choking while his parents were feeding him ice chips. The parents are upset, confused, and blaming themselves. In Scenario Two (10 minutes), a 6-week-old infant has been rushed to the hospital with a very elevated heart rate. His young parents are agitated at what seems to them a delay in receiving treatment and the father, in particular, begins his interaction with the staff in a somewhat antagonistic manner. Summarizing both, the Main Program (26 minutes) also shows the post-simulation staff discussions and includes actual parent testimonials to the value of the facilitation process.

NOTE: Training materials to accompany the DVD are provided on a separate CD for printing and distribution to participants. They include:

Guidelines and Goals for the Day

Childrens Hospital Practice Guidelines

Power Point Presentation, with Handouts

Introductory Information for Each Scenario

26 minutes
© 2007
Purchase $248 DVD
Order No. QA-486
ISBN (DVD) 1-57295-940-1

Reviews
"The true value of this training program is its relevance to health care across a broad spectrum. Although the scenarios focus on facilitating parental presence at the bedside during invasive or resuscitative procedures, the communication skills reinforced in the program are beneficial at even the most basic level. This video serves as a valuable training and resource tool by addressing a topic which will never become obsolete." Journal for Nurses in Staff Development

Awards & Conference Screenings
WorldFest Houston Film Festival, Silver Award

Related Films
Code Gray: Academy Award nominee for Best Short Documentary. Explores four open-ended cases in which nurses confront serious ethical dilemmas in their day-to-day work.

Everyday Choices: Through the story of one young visiting nurse and her elderly patient, Gerardo, this challenging documentary explores personal, professional, and ethical dilemmas faced by nurses working in home care and community settings.

Bevel Up: Drugs, Users & Outreach Nursing: How can nurses deliver effective and compassionate healthcare to drug users? This compelling documentary follows a team of "street nurses" as they reach out to prevent AIDS and other STDs by going directly to the young people, sex workers, and homeless men and women living in the alleys, shelters, and skid row hotels of the inner city.

Caring at the End of Life — with related study films: This three-part series deals with end-of-life care and decision making in the hospital, through profiles of several severely ill patients and the staff who deal with them.

New Relations: The filmmaker explores the costs and rewards of becoming a full-time father; with his own father, he reflects on changes in fathering styles between the two generations.

To rent or purchase this film, please visit the Icarus Films website

HOME  ||  TITLE INDEX  ||  SUBJECT AREAS  ||  RESOURCES  ||  RETURN TO TOP
CONTACT FANLIGHT  ||  FAQ