- Email: [email protected]
NICHE develops Patient + Family App
Geriatric Nursing 36 (2015) 249
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Geriatric Nursing journal homepage: www.gnjournal.com
NICHE Section
NICHE develops Patient þ Family App Barbara Bricoli
An important initiative for nurses working with older adults is creating well-informed patients, families and caregivers. Educated consumers can make better health care decisions, better participate in their plan of care and help the health care team achieve better outcomes for them. Health care is about decisions. Until the latter half of the twentieth century, patients were told what health care interventions would benefit them and they rarely questioned the doctor’s instructions. The rise of the rights movement in most areas of society promoted the idea that patients would benefit from robust participation in decision-making affecting their health outcomes. Building on the well-established doctrine of informed consent, as well as statutory and case law, all states came to require that patient wishes and values be central to health care decisions. The result was a greater degree of clinician-patient collaboration in planning and implementing care decisions.1 A new tool is now available that nurses can use to help educate their patients. NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) has developed the free NICHE For Patients þ Family Mobile App to help guide patients, their loved ones and caregivers through the realities of hospitalization and transitions between home, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. The app is informative but not diagnostic, and it is basic by design to make it accessible and understandable for the senior population. The app was unveiled in April at the 2015 Annual NICHE Conference in Lake Buena Vista, FL.
NICHE for Patients D Family App content The app contains information written in simple, easy-tounderstand terms. Content covers 24 topics including guidance in dealing with delirium, dementia, depression, functional decline, hearing, medications, nutrition, safety, palliative care, surgery, transitions, vaccines and more. The app is organized for fast, easy navigation. Three checklists for going to, staying in and leaving the hospital help patients and caregivers throughout transitions. A
Email address: [email protected] 0197-4572/$ e see front matter Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2015.04.010
“Find the Nearest NICHE Facility” is included to get patients and families to a NICHE facility. Part of NICHE’s mission is to support hospitals in the network and their communities. NICHE designed this new tool to help the consumer travel through the health care continuum. A better informed patient and caregiver can more easily cope with hospitalization and transitions, and communicate better with the health care team. Need to Know by NICHE The app is based on the NICHE patient and family Need to Know by NICHE series. NICHE collaborated with Baylor Scott and White’s Center for Learning Innovation and Practice to create the NICHE For Patients þ Family Mobile App. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), the St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and the International Collaboration of Orthopaedic Nursing (ICON) all have contributed content to the series. Other resources NICHE recognizes that patients and families are key members of the health care team. The new app is a natural extension of the library of tools and resources for older adult patients and their caregivers that have been developed by NICHE. Patient and family resources available on the NICHE website include Family Caregivers, NICHE Hospitals Report Series, the new NICHE Patient þ Family Encyclopedia, NICHE Solutions Series, Patient Family Councils and the “Focus On” NICHE Showcase Stories. The app is compatible with Apple iOS and Android operating systems. The app is available to the public for free on the NICHE website (http://www.nicheprogram.org/) and via Apple iTunes and Android App Stores. Reference 1. Boltz M, Capezuti E, Fulmer T & Zwicker D (eds.). Evidence-based Geriatric Nursing Protocols for Best Practice (4th ed.). New York: Springer Publishing.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Geriatric Nursing journal homepage: www.gnjournal.com
NICHE Section
NICHE develops Patient þ Family App Barbara Bricoli
An important initiative for nurses working with older adults is creating well-informed patients, families and caregivers. Educated consumers can make better health care decisions, better participate in their plan of care and help the health care team achieve better outcomes for them. Health care is about decisions. Until the latter half of the twentieth century, patients were told what health care interventions would benefit them and they rarely questioned the doctor’s instructions. The rise of the rights movement in most areas of society promoted the idea that patients would benefit from robust participation in decision-making affecting their health outcomes. Building on the well-established doctrine of informed consent, as well as statutory and case law, all states came to require that patient wishes and values be central to health care decisions. The result was a greater degree of clinician-patient collaboration in planning and implementing care decisions.1 A new tool is now available that nurses can use to help educate their patients. NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) has developed the free NICHE For Patients þ Family Mobile App to help guide patients, their loved ones and caregivers through the realities of hospitalization and transitions between home, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. The app is informative but not diagnostic, and it is basic by design to make it accessible and understandable for the senior population. The app was unveiled in April at the 2015 Annual NICHE Conference in Lake Buena Vista, FL.
NICHE for Patients D Family App content The app contains information written in simple, easy-tounderstand terms. Content covers 24 topics including guidance in dealing with delirium, dementia, depression, functional decline, hearing, medications, nutrition, safety, palliative care, surgery, transitions, vaccines and more. The app is organized for fast, easy navigation. Three checklists for going to, staying in and leaving the hospital help patients and caregivers throughout transitions. A
Email address: [email protected] 0197-4572/$ e see front matter Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2015.04.010
“Find the Nearest NICHE Facility” is included to get patients and families to a NICHE facility. Part of NICHE’s mission is to support hospitals in the network and their communities. NICHE designed this new tool to help the consumer travel through the health care continuum. A better informed patient and caregiver can more easily cope with hospitalization and transitions, and communicate better with the health care team. Need to Know by NICHE The app is based on the NICHE patient and family Need to Know by NICHE series. NICHE collaborated with Baylor Scott and White’s Center for Learning Innovation and Practice to create the NICHE For Patients þ Family Mobile App. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), the St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and the International Collaboration of Orthopaedic Nursing (ICON) all have contributed content to the series. Other resources NICHE recognizes that patients and families are key members of the health care team. The new app is a natural extension of the library of tools and resources for older adult patients and their caregivers that have been developed by NICHE. Patient and family resources available on the NICHE website include Family Caregivers, NICHE Hospitals Report Series, the new NICHE Patient þ Family Encyclopedia, NICHE Solutions Series, Patient Family Councils and the “Focus On” NICHE Showcase Stories. The app is compatible with Apple iOS and Android operating systems. The app is available to the public for free on the NICHE website (http://www.nicheprogram.org/) and via Apple iTunes and Android App Stores. Reference 1. Boltz M, Capezuti E, Fulmer T & Zwicker D (eds.). Evidence-based Geriatric Nursing Protocols for Best Practice (4th ed.). New York: Springer Publishing.