Easing the wait: development of a pager program for families.

Waiting is inevitable for patients and families seeking health care services. Anxiety, frustration, and stress are exacerbated. A pager program, where pagers are loaned free of charge to families, uses a family-centered approach to counteract the aggravation of waiting. Patients and families can leave the hospital room or clinic setting and then be paged to return as needed. In any clinical setting, having choices and control will enhance coping and satisfaction for both patients and families.