Advocating for a Patient When Their Family Couldn’t

I was assigned to be the nurse liaison in the surgical waiting room one day. Nurse liaisons provide information, support, guidance, and education to patients and families on the day of surgery. Because of COVID, our hospital did not allow any visitors in the preoperative area where patients are seen and evaluated by a preop nurse and the surgical and anesthesia teams. In making rounds introducing myself and my role in the waiting room, I met the wife and daughter of a patient having an orthopedic procedure. They were extremely upset that they were not with the patient. They explained to me that the patient had Parkinson’s Disease, and they wanted to discuss the type of anesthesia he would be getting for his elective (but much needed) surgery. They informed me of the risks of general anesthesia for people with this neurodegenerative disease, including hastened and/or increased dementia, which was their primary worry.