Wednesday 28 March 2012

Schwartz Center hospital rounds

Schwartz Center Rounds are multidisciplinary forums which bring together hospital staff  to discuss the nonclinical, social and emotional aspects of caring for patients.

A recent Kings Fund article addresses the value of this infrastructure in the UK - Supporting Hospital staff to provide compassionate care:do Schwartz Center Rounds work in English Hospitals?

It is based on a study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (summarised here). In the US, Schwartz family funded monthly meetings where staff freely and confidentially discussed their feelings about the care of a particular patient. They have been found to be a source of support for participants, benefit patients and team working and could maybe change hospital culture.

The principles sound worth-while. Finding adequate time to devote to it will be a significant barrier though!

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