Inpatient Family Connection Calls

Due to the increased risk of viral transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital policies restrict all forms of patient visitation to the inpatient units. Students were tasked with providing an emphatic link between patients and their loved ones by making daily calls to the primary contacts of all critically ill patients being treated for COVID-19 at MHC, with the supervision of Social Work. These calls served to provide general updates, pass along messages between patients and their loved ones, and to connect the patient’s primary contacts with the care team when appropriate. Students also provided counsel and support through listening to the experiences and concerns of family members and friends. As of 4/22/2020, students have been involved with the implementation of a video-calling initiative that allows patients to directly connect with their loved ones via a mobile application. They helped contact all of the inpatient units in the hospital to offer Mothers Day calls to help facilitate the nurse-run video-calling initiative. As the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients decreased, the students have expanded their call coverage to include all critically ill patients in ICUs, regardless of COVID-19 status or not.