Family-centered critical care: a practical approach to making it happen.

perceived as important for patients’ family members, to allow them time to care for themselves and prevent exhaustion. Our current healthcare era, marked by consumerism, shorter stays in the intensive care unit and the hospital, and nursing shortages, makes family-centered critical care less of an option than it once was. Family members are now active participants in planning the care of their loved ones. Shorter hospital stays mean that patients’ family members are taking on an ever-increasing role as direct caregivers. Higher acuity of patients and nursing shortages mean that family members will play a critical role in the delivery of care both in and out of the hospital. It is not only inappropriate but also impractical to ignore family members waiting outside the double doors to the critical care unit. The time has come to embrace the family members of our patients and integrate them into a holistic plan of care. Although much has been written about the needs of patients’ families and the need for change in practice, little has been pubElizabeth Henneman has been a critical care nurse, clinical nurse specialist, and nursing educator for more than 20 years. She has lectured and published extensively on the topic of families of the critically ill.