Entertainment, Compassion and Clinical Care: Improving Patient Outcomes with MediCinema

Nursing for MediCinema, has been one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had in my career. I’ve made genuine connections and much stronger relationships with patients, by interacting with them in a different capacity.  

There are so many benefits for patients, both emotional and psychological, that I almost don’t know where to start. I have seen countless times patients experience pure joy, freedom, comfort, and a sense of normality while they are in the middle of very hard times. The chance to watch a brand-new film, gives them an alternative to think about, rather than fixating on distressing thoughts, anxiety and pain.  

What I love most about MediCinema, is that it manages to encompass entertainment, compassion and clinical care, in such an innovative way. I feel like all hospitals should have one. 

A Road to Recovery One Film at a Time 

MediCinema can also add skills to a patient’s hospital stay, such as improving their time-management and promoting initiative, as they decide to shower, eat, and deal with personal tasks before seeing a film. I’ve seen patients motivated to vocalise their needs to ward nurses, for example in pain management, to ensure they can attend the cinema in comfort. These hugely important patient outcomes are the first step in moving away from the institutionalisation of a long hospital stay.  

People often tell me they feel that their life is on pause, during their treatment. However, getting to see a brand-new film brings them back in-tune with the rest of the world and society.  

I’ve seen patients with similar diagnoses, make friends at the MediCinema, bonding over the shared experience of watching a film and sharing treatment stories. Some never miss a movie, even if they’ve seen it before, as they find the experience so uplifting. Others can be a little scared to leave the ward, but with lots of reassurance and support from a registered and experienced nurse, those initially nervous patients soon find a MediCinema visit to be completely transformative. 

The potential for patient empowerment that each screening has, just isn’t (to my knowledge) replicated elsewhere within the confines of the hospital.  

MediCinema is a total one off. 

Connection in Final Moments 

I’m most proud of the effort that the  MediCinema at Guy’s made, to accommodate a patient from my ward, who was facing end of life care. I could cry thinking about it.  

I had nursed him for months and built up a good rapport with him and his family, but it was a time naturally filled with sadness and a lack of hope. The patient couldn’t attend the regular evening screenings, due to an infection. 

MediCinema organised a personal screening for this palliative care patient, and his family, with permission and guidance from the infection control department of the hospital. By adapting the screening protocols to make him safe, they could watch a film that meant a lot to them and experience something positive, hopeful and beautifully uplifting at an extremely challenging time.  

The care and attention to cater for the patients clinical and personal needs, so that they could be comforted by creating a happy memory, during the final few days of his life, was second to none.  

To be able to provide these emotional and wellbeing services, to patients facing cancer and other life limiting diseases, is completely freeing for me as a nurse. The ability to make hospital seem less scary, to bring laughter, joy and fun to stressed patients in need of respite, is a beautiful gift that I’ve had the pleasure of delivering.