Teaching at the Bedside: Strategies for Optimizing Education on Patient and Family Centered Rounds

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Communication
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Family-centered rounds (FCR) adoption faces concerns regarding potential decreases in resident and attending teaching opportunities.
• Traditional teaching methods may not fully leverage the benefits of bedside clinical encounters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address concerns about reduced teaching in family-centered rounds (FCR).
• To provide strategies for enhancing bedside teaching within FCR.
• To improve clinical education, team communication, and patient/family engagement.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature and clinical practice guidelines on bedside teaching.
• Development of practical strategies for faculty to teach, model, observe, and assess learners.
• Focus on communication enhancement among care team members, patients, and families.

Main Results:

• Family-centered rounds (FCR) can enhance clinical education by providing direct patient exposure to all team members.
• Faculty can teach, model, observe, and assess learners more effectively at the bedside.
• Implementation of specific strategies can overcome perceived drawbacks of FCR.

Conclusions:

• Family-centered rounds (FCR) offer significant opportunities to enhance clinical education when effective bedside teaching strategies are employed.
• Enhanced communication and patient engagement are key benefits of well-structured FCR.
• Addressing faculty concerns through practical guidance is crucial for successful FCR adoption.