Chamberlain College of Nursing
Term Month and Year
Patient-centered care is an approach to nursing and medicine that puts the focus of healthcare provision on the patient and their specific needs (Hood, 2013). Patient-centered care also places a focus on the relationships between the patient and their family, recognizing them as one inseparable unit. This focus has allowed patient-centered care to focus on the needs of the patients and their families, including the visitation procedure that is most suited to that particular case (Riley, White, Graham & Alexandrov, 2014). As such, patient-centered care provides an opportunity for all stakeholders in healthcare to provide a better service that is designed to ensure the quality of care that the patient deserves, with respect to a holistic approach that takes into account aspects beyond simple physiology.
Interactions with Other Care Providers
Nursing is a field that has become more and more complex over time. As research evolves, there a number of increasingly specific professions with which nurses have to interact. As Riley et al. note, “Patients’ families, physicians, and nurses believed that sharing information about a patient’s health status was important and necessary” (2014, p. 319), this increasing complexity can provide a challenge when trying to communicate information between different care providers, the primary care provider, the patient, and their family. There is a need to develop a sense of respect for the views of everyone participating in the patient’s care to provide this level of communication, which is central to the concept of patient-centered care. Nursing needs to evolve to adapt to these changes in the profession, and to ensure that all viewpoints and needs are considered when developing a patient-centered plan of care that is appropriate for that particular case.
Modern Technology in Nursing
Modern technology has brought a huge amount of benefits to nursing, including a reduction in the number of medical errors (Hood, 2013). Despite this, modern technology can be challenging in that it demands more time behind a computer and less time spent at the bedside of the patient. Again, patient-centered care provides a model for improving this issue, and ensuring that the patient has their needs met by the nurse. It is important that nurses are aware of the effects that modern technology has on the profession, and use this to improve patient experience and satisfaction by communicating with the patient and their families, rather than allowing it to take away from direct patient contact. Patient-centered care provides an approach that allows nurses to engage directly with the patient and to consider all the needs of the patient and their family as a holistic process, rather than relying on technology to provide the service (Riley et al., 2014).
Conclusions
Patient-centered care is an important approach to nursing that encourages the needs of the patient and their family to be at the forefront of developing a care plan. Whilst medical technology has improved a number of elements of nursing, it can place too much emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of the patient and too little on the holistic needs of the patient. Patient-centered care provides an approach that ensures that nurses can communicate effectively with the patients, their families, and other care providers to ensure that a holistic care plan is created that does not focus solely on the physiology of the patient. This type of approach gives a human side to nursing, which is more likely to be associated with high levels of patient satisfaction, and is more likely to meet the needs of the patient. It is important to always put the patient at the center of care.
References
Hood, L. (2013). Leddy & Pepper’s Conceptual Bases of Professional Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Riley, B. H., White, J., Graham, S., & Alexandrov, A. (2014). Traditional/restrictive vs patient-centered intensive care unit visitation: perceptions of patients’ family members, physicians, and nurses. American Journal of Critical Care, 23(4), 316–324.
