During a meeting of the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital Patient Family Advisory Council, we were discussing a Patient Information Brochure. One of our members, a cancer patient, suddenly spoke ”This brochure is like one of those notebooks on the hotel desk. I’ve had a lot of hospital time. What I would like to have had is a business card that has my name, my room number, my phone and the phone numbers for the nurse station and hospital telephone information, and my telephone password so the nurses will give my family my status information. That will all slip in a wallet or pocket”

Thus began a several month process of collaboration with patients, family, nurses, and other staff as to what this card would state and its form.

The end product is an inexpensive card format to be completed by patient or patient’s primary support person. The reverse of the card gives the family information about how to call into the room to participate in multi-disciplinary team rounds, bedside shift change reporting and discharge planning. The result is a wealth of information to make patient-family collaboration with the health care team a reality and with ease.

Submitted by a team: The Patient Family Advisory Council, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital