Nursing shortages and patient safety problems in hospital care: is clinical monitoring by families part of the solution?

Abstract

I am currently in the USA,* where I have been struck by the frequency of the message – especially in advice to health care consumers – that hospital patients should, if possible, have a family member with them to be vigilant about their condition and the care they are given in order to keep them safe from health care errors. The strength of the recommendations and the kinds of vigilance recommended vary, but the following examples should serve to illustrate what I am talking about: