Patient-centered care is not a new idea. It was quite popular when I was in nursing school in the mid 1970’s. It’s what drove me out of hospital-based care and into home health care within three years of graduation. I wasn’t able to make the difference I wanted to make because we couldn’t achieve patient-centered care. Reemergence of Patient-Centered Care Now as we are mandated to cut and manage the soaring costs of healthcare and improve outcomes all at the same time, the importance of patient-centered care is reemerging. To a new generation of nurses and health care professionals it is new and exciting, and to those of us familiar…
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Shared Decision Making
We are in the midst of a paradigm shift from a sick care model to a health care model. Nurses (and all other health professionals) are helping patients learn to share the decision making aspects of their care and learning to assume responsibility for their own health status and outcomes. This is a complicated process and a new role for nurses; especially those who are accustomed to doing for the patients. This often stems from time constraints that prohibit nurses from teaching patients. It’s just easier to do it yourself. But as we move towards patient responsibility, patient education becomes much more important. Preventative care and reducing the risks and…