In your initial response, introduce yourself to your peers. Based on your professional or personal experience, explain and illustrate the divide between the ideal of patient- centered care and the actual practice of patient-centered care.
My name is Samantha Gilchrist; I am currently working as a registered nurse at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. I am one of many staff nurses on a twenty- two-bed medical telemetry unit, caring for the specific comorbidities that exist amongst the veteran population. I am in the process of obtaining my MSN, not because I plan on giving up bedside nursing, but, I feel I will have more opportunity to advance the professional practice of nurses at my facility and thereby enhance patient care satisfaction. This course will assist in my endeavors towards this goal as I expect to learn various methods in assessing effectiveness of current practice interventions and applying change.
Patient centered care addresses that the "patient's culture, social context, and specific needs deserve respect, and the patient should play an active role in making decisions about her own
care," (Institute for healthcare improvement). This is especially important in the recognition of chronic care of conditions as opposed to acute circumstances. In the ideal situation; the patient requests and wishes would be honored unequivocally, regardless of professional opinion or facility policy. Patient preferences would be respected with empathy and compassion and the patient would have full control over decisions (Joshi, M. Ransom, E. Nash, D. & Ransom, S. 2014). Patient centered care would include a holistic approach to the health and lifestyle of the individual. This ideal, however, is not always realistic. To function appropriately as a health care setting -- clinicians and staff must collaborate with a patient to provide appropriate, timely, effective and equitable care (Institute for healthcare improvement). The necessity of meeting these characteristics does not always coincide with the wishes of the patient, however should always keep the patient's best interest most prominent. It is important to teach incoming health care professions the practice of patient centered care and how to apply it in the decision-making process -- in this way, a new generation of clinicians will encompass this ideal and create more positive experiences for patients. In the acute care setting, patient centered care is being embraced as it may improve self-care behaviors at discharge (Fredericks, SM. Lapurn, J. & Hui. G. 2015).
References
Fredericks, SM. Lapurn, J. & Hui, G. (2015). Examining the effect of patient-centered care on patient outcomes: A systematic review. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 31(18) 18-19
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2019). Across the Chasm: Six Aims for Changing the Health Care System. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/ImprovementStories/AcrosstheChasmSixAimsforCha ngingtheHealthCareSystem.aspx
Joshi, M. Nash, D. Ransom, E. & Ransom, S (2014). The Healthcare Quality Book: Vista, Strategy, and Tools. Chicago, Illinois: Health Administration Press. Retrieved from https://web-b-ebscohost.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=081a6a89- df8c-427b-b1f5-76f9ed199ac4%40pdc-v-
sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbG12ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRI#AN=863699&db= nlebk.