MedSitter was designed to be a patient safety tool, but its impact has expanded to provide vital support to inpatients suffering from loneliness in isolation.
Getting sick is not on anyone’s to-do list. But it still happens, and sometimes the road to recovery is difficult. If the illness or injury is serious, it can mean a long hospital stay, with some patients even dealing with anxiety, depression, fear, and loneliness. However, there are many ways to make the patient experience better. Healthcare providers that use virtual observation with tools like MedSitter have begun leveraging many of the features to help with the emotional highs and lows that come with being in the hospital. Isolation is one of the most harrowing aspects of hospitalization. With MedSitter, you are never alone.
Patient Loneliness
MedSitter was designed to be a patient safety tool. Initially conceptualized to help prevent patient falls, its impact has expanded beyond fall prevention and has proven to provide vital support to inpatients suffering from loneliness in isolation. One of MedSitter’s features is instantaneous communication between patients and sitters via two-way audio and video. With just one click, sitters can appear on video in the patient's room - no calling required! Persistent video closely mimics the immediacy of in-person communication and helps sitters to establish strong relationships with patients. This has gone a long way towards improving patient loneliness that can occur with long stays at the hospital.
Mental Well-Being
Patients in isolation are particularly vulnerable to feelings of depression, anxiety, and anger. (Source: NCBI). MedSitter observers are trained to interact socially with patients to alleviate feelings of isolation, and in most cases a strong rapport is established between patients and MedSitter observers. This rapport is aided by MedSitter’s unique attributes that give observers access to tools that reduce communication barriers they might deal with in person, such as language interpretation and translation.
Observation units like those offered by MedSitter are pre-loaded with dozens of spoken prompts that cover many of the issues and questions that come up when interacting with a patient. The units can be set to the patient’s language so that the spoken prompt can be translated—including American Sign-Language for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients, for whom communication in the hearing world is already a challenge. Since language can be a very frustrating barrier in patient care, this function can create a comfort level that reduces patient anxiety and improves patients’ mental well-being. In essence, if a patient needs someone to be there, they won’t feel alone.
Guardian Angel: MedSitter
In nature, angelfish are never found alone; they always move in pairs. MedSitter’s logo is an angelfish because, with MedSitter, your at-risk patients will never be alone. Our platform gives each patient a guardian angel who is always beside them. These are our values here at MedSitter. We help to keep patients safe, alleviate staffing shortages, and preserve hospital budgets during an incredibly trying time. Our vision is to get patient observation installed everywhere, so that every at-risk patient within our health system benefits from companionship and protection. So they never have to travel alone.
If you would like to learn more or are interested in installing MedSitter in your healthcare facility. Visit our Contact Us page now.