Evaluation of speak for myself™ with patients who are voiceless

Patients who are hospitalized and are without voice would like to participate in
their care. This requires clear communication. Speak for Myself™ (SFM) was developed
for use at the bedside so that communication may be facilitated between patient and nurse when the patient is voiceless. The objective of this study was to evaluate Speak for Myself™ at the bedside and to measure the outcomes. This was a mixed methods, one group pre-test-post-test, quasi-experimental study. Twenty adult patients in three
hospitals in South Florida agreed to use Speak for Myself™ during their acute care
hospital stay (M = 8.86 hours). This group of participants (n = 20) ranged from 45 to 91
years old (males = 14; females = 6). Of the participants, 15 (75%) self-identified as
European American, 2 (10%) self-identified as Hispanic, 2 (10%) self-identified as
African American, and 1 (5%) self-identified as Asian. Ten of the participants (50%)
were in respiratory failure. Two (10%) were receiving oxygenation measures related to
unspecified complications of their illnesses. Of the remaining eight participants (40%),
one each was receiving oxygenation measures due to atrial fibrillation, arteriosclerotic
heart disease, cardiogenic shock, endocarditis, neck abscess, renal failure, status post
seizure activity, and tongue metastasis.