My boyfriend washed my pantyhose! (and how that relates to PFAs)

I am a chilly-natured person and, even in mild weather, my feet get cold easily. To remedy this, I have recently begun taking a page from my grandmother's fashion guide and wearing knee high pantyhose. (No, not with skirts...so far)

It's been a wonderful solution and my feet stay warm!

I had only one challenge upon implementation: Mom's teachings from my Sunday School days dictate that all pantyhose must be hand washed in the sink with some mild detergent.

Blerg.

I was, and always will be, way too lazy/busy/stubborn to do that. 

So I didn't.

That meant I had a big pile of knee-high pantyhose in the hamper with no real plan of when or how they would get clean.

That's when it happened. I went away on business and my boyfriend had laundry duty. He washed my knee-high pantyhose with the rest of the wash and even put them in the dryer! 

Certainly they were destroyed! Runs and holes everywhere! Right? Nope. They looked fine. Clean and in perfect condition.

So what, you ask? Well, I agree that this is not the most interesting of topics and I thank you for hanging in there with me. The "so what" is this:

Patient Family Advisors are like my Boyfriend Who Washed My Pantyhose. 

Sometimes we as humans, and especially humans who work in healthcare, can become so entrenched in the "should do" or the "we have always done" that it takes someone that knows nothing about pantyhose...er, I mean healthcare, to show us a new, easier or better way. 

Letting a person into the world of healthcare--one that is so complicated and works within the lines of life and death all day long--when they don't have the same education, background or expertise as an MD or an RN can seem silly to some, even dangerous to others.  It is essential to balance those reservations with the understanding that, without the clear vision of a person who is untainted by that same training, background and expertise, it is likely healthcare continues to wash its pantyhose in the sink when a more streamlined approach exists. 

I am often asked in one form or another, "What does genuine partnership between patients, families and providers look like?" One answer now seems abundantly clear: Embracing genuine partnership means asking the novice how he would wash your pantyhose!