An Interdisciplinary Team Approach to the Disruptive Family Member

This is the case of a thirty-seven year old mother of two, with metastatic breast cancer in the hospital setting. Her father has already lost one child to the same disease, and stands vigil at his daughter’s bedside. He is visibly exhausted and occasionally physically blocks health care providers from attending to the patient. Although the patient is determined to be very comfortable by multiple clinicians, he express dissatisfaction with her care. The health care staff begins to dread coming in contact with the father, and are concerned that the patient’s care may suffer as a result of his behavior. Our successful approach involved multiple disciplines, but spiritual care became very important in the patient’s final days.