(Snippets from the frontline)
COVID-19: Closing the door on families of hospitalized patients
Hospitals are content not permitting families to visit their loved ones. With COVID-19 easily transmissible, this persistent reason by hospital administrators to exempt visitation allows medical care rendered not to be publicly scrutinized.
No doubt, everyone is traveling an unfamiliar road developing processes and procedures to follow during this pandemic. Some hospitals have a history of creating well-thought-out protective policies, while others don’t. Flaws, when noticed, can be corrected.
But some hospitals fear criticism and lawsuits. Plus, nurse and doctor whistleblowers are marginalized (by dangling contracts), fired, or removed from staff should they raise their voice.
PPEs are used by healthcare personnel to protect themselves and the patient. Why wouldn’t a family member be just as protected if taught the correct way to utilize PPEs?
The door has been closed long enough on visiting family members. There is no excuse to not open those doors unless hospital administrators possibly want to hide malfeasance.
In the beginning of this pandemic, restriction may have been a well-thought-out policy.
But patients will undoubtedly do much better though with family at bedside.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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