Nurses, as trusted professionals, are central to patient care. They can make the difference between a patient feeling respected and heard or neglected. Their role is crucial in achieving positive patient outcomes.
A person-centered approach puts people at the heart of health and social services, including care, support, and enablement. Person-centered care interventions led by nurses contribute to improved patient outcomes by enhancing patient engagement, satisfaction, and adherence to treatment plans. The interventions help tailor care to individual patient needs, fostering better health outcomes and empowerment and enabling patients and their caregivers to take more active roles in their own health and well-being.
But it’s the role of the nurse leader to ensure that they’re providing the guidance, tools and resources to help bedside nurses make the shift to a patient-centered nursing care model that prioritizes engagement, independence, and patients’ needs and preferences. With patient-centered care, nurses can focus on an entire patient and the patient’s well-being rather than only on the treatment for the patient’s condition or health situation. Nurses can concentrate on four main areas: culture, care, communication, and collaboration. With patient-centered care as the foundation, nurses can build relationships and trust that facilitate optimal outcomes.
What does nurse-led patient-centered care mean in today’s healthcare environment?
Nurse-led patient-centered care refers to a healthcare approach whereby nurses take the lead in designing, implementing, and overseeing various aspects of patient care and treatment. Such interventions are based on the nursing profession’s expertise, knowledge, and skills. Nurse-led patient-centered care seeks to enhance a patient’s understanding of a medical condition and to equip the patient to make informed decisions about personal health. Nursing leaders can help empower that goal by creating a culture of support.
In today’s post-COVID-19 environment, patient-centered care can be delivered in many ways but through a broader lens that emphasizes social determinants of health and health equity. Because of their close patient interactions, nurses are in a unique position to recognize housing and food insecurities, transportation obstacles, and issues with regard to paying utility and other bills.
Patient-centered care also considers an individual’s specific health needs and desired health outcomes as healthcare decisions get made. Patient-centered care involves a partnership with a patient and the patient’s family and caregivers, and it considers a patient’s emotional, mental, spiritual, social, and financial needs or limitations.
Nurses have already historically been committed to patient focus, which specifically positions them to deliver patient-centered care. But there can be challenges without the commitment of the hospitals and health systems nurses work in. To truly achieve patient-centered care, an organization must maintain policies and evidence-based clinical resources to deliver such patient-centered care, and it must recruit and retain those who strive to serve with empathy and continuous reinforcement of the patient experience. Such a foundation can help nurses build the trusted relationships that facilitate optimal outcomes.
Building a framework for patient-centered care
The goal of empowered patients who are engaged and in collaboration with healthcare providers is a lofty one. The Picker Institute, a British healthcare research firm, has identified eight principles of patient-centered care that can equip healthcare organizations with a framework to begin with. The principles are:
- Respect for each patient’s values, preferences, and needs
- Coordination and integration of care
- Clear information, education, and support
- Attention to physical comfort and environmental needs
- Emotional support
- Involvement of family and friends
- Continuity of care and smooth transitions
- Fast and reliable access to care
Spotlighting culture, care, collaboration, and communication comes with its own challenges. Changing the mindset of a healthcare organization can be difficult at best. Even with leadership support, organizations may face lack of resources, fragmentation of care, inadequate coordination, conflicting incentives, and regulatory issues.
What could patient-centered care look like with a full commitment?
In a hospital setting, the patient determines who visits and when rather than adherence to a strict visitation schedule. Family as defined by the patient can be part of the team by participating in discussions and care decisions. Family members are kept fully in the loop, with timely updates so they know what’s going on and don’t feel powerless.
From a primary care perspective, the mission is to build a relationship with healthcare providers that hinges on empathy, respect, and trust. Even though two-way communication and eye-to-eye contact are vital to such communication, patient-centered care provides additional support through programs that patients can be referred to for help with emotional and financial needs. Technology-based tools can assist with important tasks like scheduling appointments, viewing lab results, paying bills, and tracking of weight, blood pressure, glucose levels, cholesterol, and other pertinent quantitative information.
Nurses are key in both settings by helping patients take more-active roles in their treatment. Nurses can provide patients with evidence-based information about patients’ conditions and treatment plans while including family members or caregivers in the discussions. They can coordinate and communicate follow-up plans. They can monitor plan progress. And by explaining proper medication administration and wound care, by proposing lifestyle modifications, and by teaching self-monitoring techniques, nurses can promote self-care.
Patient-centered care isn’t just “the right thing to do.” Taking a more holistic approach has been shown to improve both care processes and health outcomes. Plus, when patients have closer connections with their healthcare providers and feel seen, they’re less likely to have to undergo additional tests and less likely to pursue legal action if a medical error gets handled sensitively.
Find out more about how Lippincott® Solutions can support patient-centered care.
