The Significance of Patient-Centered Care Assessment - Essay Example

Patient-Centered Care Assessment Dr. Shakeel [Pick the Introduction The notion of patient-centered care has emerged as a means of ensuring provision of personalized nursing care to patients who attend health care settings for health related issues (Morgan & Yoder, 2012). This philosophy of care takes into consideration the uniqueness of every individual and therefore makes possible the development of care plans that cater to the individual needs of every patient. It therefore follows that every patient presents to the nursing staff as a new challenge. The nurses are expected to respond to every challenge in a highly professional manner in order to ascertain appropriate delivery of care in a manner that aligns with the health condition of the patient. Additionally, the nursing staff is expected to take into consideration the overall wellbeing of the individuals. Therefore physical, psychological, social, religious and lingual factors should all be kept in mind when devising care plans. Orem’s theory provides the necessary framework for analyzing the standard of care that is provided to the patients. This paper highlights the significance of patient-centered care by assessing the care process of a patient who experienced this personalized nature of care in a health care setting. Assessment of care experience My patient is 49 years old married male, who visited the health care setup regarding pain in his shoulder. He is a physical therapy assistant by profession and holds an Associate’s Degree. He considers his spouse to be his primary support person as she accompanies him during his visits. After assessment of this patient, I can safely assert that his experience of care has been quite satisfactory; despite the fact that there are some areas which have failed to serve him appropriately. The patient accepts that doctors, nurses, labs and imaging have all played an effective role in providing health support. He is also convinced about the effectiveness of inter-professional working relationships as he appreciates the way nurses and doctors work together. There are however some areas about which the patient is dissatisfied. Firstly, the patient expected the health professionals to explain things in detail; a hope that was not fulfilled. Secondly, the patient was made to wait in the pre-op for almost two hours which he disliked. Thirdly, the patient expected to see some surgical pictures and handouts, to get an idea about the upcoming surgery and to get information about post-op care; this need also remains unmet. Theory Application The given scenario can be analyzed on the basis of a number of nursing theories, which relate to nursing care in a patient-centered fashion. In my opinion, the Dorothea Orem’s self-care Deficit theory is the most appropriate for application to the given case. “Orem’s theory of nursing focused on the capacity of the patient to provide self-care and the process of developing nursing interventions to fulfill the individual’s unmet needs for self-care” (Terry, 2013 p97). Orem’s approach in the care of patients revolves around the idea of determining the ‘self-care deficits’ to base the nursing care decisions upon. This approach ensures that care plan is customized according to the needs of a given patient (Maville & Huerta, 2012; Hood, 2014). In the given patient, an attempt was made to detect self-care deficits. An insight into the universal self-care requisites was sought by questioning about aspects like social interaction, performing life functions, activities that promote health e.g. exercise, language, religion and culture etc. Inquiry into developmental self-care requisites was carried out by asking certain questions regarding the patient’s ability to prevent him from unwanted happenings. An insight into health deviation self-care requisites was gained by asking the patient about his ability to seek medical attention when required. His knowledge about the need to attend emergency department in times of urgency as well as visiting his family doctor regarding his day-to-day requirements was also questioned to ascertain these requisites. Evaluation and critical reflection As far as the level of patient-centered care is concerned, this can be weighed against the central attributes that are associated with this type of care. Since the various aspects related to social, cultural, lingual, religious, physical and psychological wellbeing of the patient were taken into consideration, it is safe to say that a ‘whole-person’ approach was adopted. A detailed interview by the nurse ensured ‘effective communication’. Provision of some basic information about the upcoming surgical procedure served the purpose of empowering the patient. Access to facilities like consultations, labs and imaging provided satisfaction to the patient. Since the patient was forced to wait for two hours before the surgery and the information provided to the patient was limited; autonomy of the patient was to some extent compromised. It is therefore safe to claim that this level of care was satisfactory but of course not extraordinary. A patient’s experience originates from his interaction with a health care organization. His perceptions, whether conscious or subconscious regarding the performance of health care organization shape his experience. For this reason, a patient’s experience is not limited to or affected by an isolated person or department; instead it is a reflection of his overall feelings towards such an organization. Additionally, patient experience may stem from his rational understanding of the ongoing processes as well as from his emotional makeup. Patient experience is therefore a reflection of the performance of a health care organization. It can only be improved by taking into account patient experience and taking corrective measures in areas that are deficient (Huber, 2013). My efforts to provide patient-centered care to this patient would have included a number of additional things. Firstly, I would have arranged a discussion session with the patient and his family to provide a detailed overview of the surgery that was expected. Important things to include in this session are preparation for surgery, duration of surgery, post-op management, possible complications that may arise due to surgery and prognosis of the patient’s condition. Secondly, the patient suffered quite a lot when he was told to wait for surgery. This stress can be minimized by allowing the patient to wait with his attendants till the time of surgery. Thirdly, providing printed material related to the patient’s condition would have better enabled the patient to cope with his stress and manage his condition post-op. At certain points during patient care, a nurse has to act as the liaison between different departments of a health care facility (Sanjeev et al, 2012). It is important to realize the fact that patients during such processes are more vulnerable and there is increased likelihood of a patient getting maltreated during such endeavors. Such ventures demand that the nurse to plays the role of a patient advocate, in order to protect the patient’s basic rights. In this patient’s case, assistance from other departments like anesthesia, labs, imaging etc. was sought under direct supervision of the nursing staff, which not only protected the patient during times of vulnerability, but also improved patient’s experience. As far as my personal learning from this assignment is concerned, I have gained a satisfactory insight into the patient-centered nursing care process. I have learnt that nursing care is not merely about administering the prescribed medication on time; instead it is a process that demands identification of the various self-care deficits of a patient and acting in a way that replenishes them. Conclusion Patient-centered care revolves around the idea of developing care plans based on the needs of individual patients that should be identified earlier during the course of nursing. Orem’s theory takes this notion a step further by introducing the concept of self-care deficits and classifying it into three categories, as discussed earlier. Application of Orem’s theory on this patient has enabled me to identify the areas, where patient’s experience was the least satisfactory; hence allowing me to develop patient-centered plan that is central to modern day nursing. This makes possible the delivery of care in a manner that suits perfectly to the health condition of the health service user. Doing this has also enabled me to develop recommendations for my future practice to ensure that my patients’ experience is always satisfactory and as per their expectations. I am confident that this experiential activity is a turning point in my nursing practice and I will become a better professional after completing this task. References Hood, L. J. (2014). LEDDY & PEPPER’S Conceptual Bases of Professional Nursing, 8th edition, Wolters Kluwer (Health)/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, ISBN: 978-1-4511-8792-2. Huber, D. (2013). Leadership and nursing care management. Elsevier Health Sciences. Maville, J., & Huerta, C. (2012). Health promotion in nursing. Cengage Learning. Morgan, S., & Yoder, L. H. (2012). A concept analysis of person-centered care.Journal of Holistic Nursing, 30(1), 6-15. Sanjeev, S., Kumar, G. S., & Sunil, K. (2012). Hospital infection control guidelines: Principles and practice. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers. Terry, A. J. (2013). The LPN-to-RN bridge: Transitions to advance your career. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Read More