The Patient & Family
At first glance, having critical thinking skills when it comes to the patient and family might not seem like a big deal. But it is, and I will tell you why.

If you think about it, the patient is the whole reason you get to be a badass nurse. We are often taught all about assessing the patient’s physical body (lung sounds, etc, blah blah blah) but there is little emphasis on the importance of the relationship that develops between the patient (and family) and the nurse. 
Having that relationship and trust there could mean very big things; things like:
  • gaining knowledge that was previously missing that changes everything (some patients like to hold secrets)
  • knowing what the patient truly wants for themselves (like code status)
  • understanding their needs and the needs of their family members during this stressful time (patient advocacy)
  • Helping with emotional needs that influence physiological condition, as well as patient/family cooperation with clinical treatment/instructions.
  • Patient and family satisfaction- ever try to do something but can't because the family/patient is irate? You can bypass that usually by building rapport.
  • Patient safety: This is a  HUGE reason why we care about this! Patient safety is not just about what you do, but also what the patient themselves does. And with trust and rapport, you can guide them to act safely, and to communicate with you about things that might be a safety issue. 
 
Really the list goes on and on.
It comes down to this: we are the patient’s advocate. How can we truly do that without having a relationship with them? How can we honor their wishes if we do not see the importance of the whole person in the bed before us? All the critical thinking in the world doesn’t matter if it ends up violating what the patient wants for themselves.

In the real world, our clinical actions are influenced by the ethical and moral context around those actions. Guess who sets the bar for that? It is the patient (and often times the family, too) who create that ethical and moral compass by which we set our course of action. And that is why we have to evolve our thinking to incorporate the patient and the family.
Under this category, we will talk about:
Comfort Measures
​Building rapport
End of life decision making
Family