A patient's family member is in emotional turmoil. How can you provide the support they desperately need?

Engage in active listening by giving your full attention, maintaining eye contact, and reflecting on the speaker's emotions. For example, when fear and uncertainty is expressed about a prognosis, acknowledge the family members feelings and encourage them to share more about the situation. Active listening builds trust but also allows a person to feel supported during a challenging time.

Active listening provides the sense of belonging to the family and they open up fully to the care provider, this thematic area is very crucial in caring for patient and family needs

La mayoría de las veces pasamos por alto los sentimientos de los familiares, ya que nos enfocamos en brindar cuidados y atención a la persona enferma. Pero si dentro de nuestra jornada tomamos 5 o 10 minutos para escuchar a los familiares y prestar atención a lo que nos dicen, eso es suficiente para que su estado de ánimo mejore y su preocupación disminuya. El acto de escuchar es una actividad que no desgasta, y que brinda comfort a la persona que está pasando por una situación de preocupación, al ser escuchados, la confianza aumenta, su estado de ánimo mejora y su forma de relacionarse con el entorno y con el personal de salud mejora.

One thing I've found helpful when providing nursing care to clients is being able to help them in the language they understand, this deals with their perspective of being care for. Active Listening is therefore one of the ways you can get to see through them and how they want to be cared for.

Emotional support should be handled with the needed attention since this create a lasting impression hence providing reassurances to enable them cope properly

Empathy goes a long way in rendering care, and validating their feelings helps them understand that they are not alone. Show emotional support by responding to their feelings appropriately, and their response to their care

Clearly giving the family members an up-to-date information builds their trust and confidence in you. Answers questions correctly, give accurate information without haste, read bodily signs and allay fears and anxiety

Identify gaps in one’s knowledge base and begin education there. Ensure the information provided is easy to comprehend and uses simple terms with examples to assist in application and the persons ability to retain all of the knowledge given. Lay out a clear and concise plan and expectations of the next steps ahead. Ensure verbal understanding by having them repeat the information back to you. Fill in any missing knowledge gaps and thoroughly answer all questions.

Provide education in simple and plain language for understanding devoid of any jargon and ambiguity. Be ready to respond to questions and any doubt family or client may have

I keep a note in my phone of various available resources for different medical conditions that I come across. I ensure that the articles are from a reliable source and have comprehensive information for the patient or the family. I tried to give more than one resource. I ensure that I provide resources that educate patients in different modalities, including written information, videos, handouts, pictures, etc.

A case manager should assign in taking care of client needs and in so doing scares resources will be fully utilized and bring out the best outcomes.

Commonly I use the example of a cup. When we are living day-to-day life our cup slowly empties out, and we refill it throughout the day through various social interactions, self-care, interactions with loved ones, reading, taking a bath, etc. When we have a loved one that is not well, we spend a large majority of our time empty, our cup while we provide care for them. It is essential during this time that we refill our cup each day so that we can provide the loving care that we desire to our loved one because eventually a cup will run dry and there will be nothing more to give. I encourage each of my patients loved ones to spend 30 to 60 minutes per day, not consecutively, filling their cup.

One thing that I have found helpful is to allow Privacy to the distress family. Provide a room or a space where they can be allowed to be private and don't forget to introduce yourself and inform them where they can find you, once they are ready to talk and interact with the health care team, to find answers to their questions. Offer something to drink, which may help to ease the distress. Most importantly is for the health care workers to recognize the distress and to attend to it promptly. You can never go wrong if you are a good listener with empathy.