Nurses have always been on the front lines of patient-centered care, and this trend will always remain so. Treating a client, not just for their physical ailments, but considering the “whole” of the client has been a priority, even since the days of Florence Nightingale. It is imperative to consider the impact of nurses to be aware of health policies, future changes trying to be implemented by the governmental braches, and still maintaining the safety and holistic approach to client-centered care. These topics must remain on the forefront of nurses in the profession, since this is the most important aspect of caring for the clients that we advocate for. What is health policy? Health policy refers to decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken …show more content…
For example, nutritional intake policies, transportation policies, and vaccination policies can encourage healthier eating habits, increased physical activity and school nutrition policies can ensure healthier meals are provided in schools. Vaccination policies can help protect the greater public from new, mutated, or thought to be eradicated diseases from affecting the population. These guidelines help not only to protect the clients that are not being treated or following the most recent guidelines, but may prevent disease transmission to others who have had the proper vaccines, yet their immune system may not have significant coverage against these diseases, and therefore these people may inadvertently become ill through no fault of their …show more content…
. Nurses are the advocates for their clients, and nurses are the backbone of the experience that the client experiences first hand in the application of any health care policy change. Not only do these suggestions that are initiated by healthcare workers (nurses in particular) may have an enormous impact on healthcare policies, but may also spurn into action change that may be long overdue. Safety for the clients being cared for, as well as safety for the health care professionals caring for these patients should remain the number one priority when discussing and voting on changes regarding policy changes. These changes are addressed by voters from these regions, and by taking a proactive role by contacting their legislators via e-mail, written communications such as petitions or letters, or even by scheduling meetings with their representatives in
Often time, nurses has been viewed by patients, their family members and the medical team as basic emotional care givers, pill crushers or cart pullers and not as healthcare professionals who are more interesting in health promotion, disease prevention and better patient outcomes. They also often forget the emotional, physical, mental, and caring part that is involved with the profession. And to make matters worse, nurses are continued to be viewed as a threat by doctors more than ever before especially with the opening of Nurse Practitioners programs.
The care that the public health nurse provides to her clients is patient-centered. During one of the home visits, the nurse talked and questioned her client about what her needs were and if there was anything she could do for her. The client mentioned that she needed more supplies such as diaper and baby clothes. The nurse agreed to bring these items the next time she visits. When the nurse had to perform an assessment on the client’s son by using the ASQ-3, which is a screening tool that screens for developmental delays, the client mentioned that she was not feeling well and did want to answer questions. The nurse respected her client’s request and did not carry on with the assessment. Patient-centered care was evidenced in the nurse’s practice as she was assessing and responding to her client needs. The client also had control on how the care was delivered to her. By letting the client have a voice in her care, the nurse was establishing a caring relationship with the client, which is one of the cornerstones of public health nursing (Garcia, Schaffer, & Schoon, 2014, p. 9). In addition, by providing support and care as well as addressing the client’s needs, the nurse was working at the individual level of practice.
In the article “Time to learn: Understanding patient-centered care,” Rinchen Pelzang clarifies not only what patient-centered care means but what it looks like when implemented. These clarifications are necessary because although most healthcare setting advocate patient-centered care, with no clear definition. Pelzang mentions this as one of the most prominent barriers to PCC, the misinterpretation of the concept. In order to combat this barrier proper education and emphasis on communication are needed. When this isn’t the case, “the failure to recognize nurse-patient communication as an essential component of nursing care is the greatest barrier to effective communication” (Pelzang, 2010). Collaborative care and
Nursing should focus on patient and family centered care, with nurses being the patient advocate for the care the patient receives. Patient and family centered care implies family participation. This type of care involves patients and their families in their health care treatments and decisions. I believe that it is important to incorporate this kind of care at Orange Regional Medical Center (ORMC) because it can ensure that we are meeting the patient’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs through their hospitalization.
Looking back at the evolution of our profession, one cannot help but wonder about its future. Our health system has become a key political issue, and an even higher rate of change is only to be expected. Nurses will be at the front line of that tidal wave, where challenge and opportunity go hand in hand.
Safety is a primary concern in the health care environment, but there are still many preventable errors that occur. In fact, a study from ProPublica in 2013 found that between 210,000 and 440,000 patients each year suffer preventable harm in the hospital (Allen, 2013). Safety in the healthcare environment is not only keeping the patient safe, but also the employee. If a nurse does not follow procedure, they could bring harm to themselves, the patient, or both. Although it seems like such a simple topic with a simple solution, there are several components to what safety really entails. Health care professionals must always be cautious to prevent any mishaps to their patients, especially when using machines or lifting objects, as it has a higher
The healthcare system can be difficult for clients to navigate and they are often unsure how to access information which puts them at the mercy of others and can lead to feelings of helplessness (Erlen, 2006). Nurses can provide resources to educate patients when they becomes dependent on a health care provider and no longer feel in control of their own body which can lead to fear, hopelessness, helplessness and loss of control (Cousley et al., 2014). The change in roles individuals face can further increase their stress and feelings of powerlessness (Scanlon & Lee, 2006). According to the CNA code of ethics, nurses are responsible for protecting patients from objective risks that place them in an increased level of vulnerability (Carel, 2009). They can do this by providing the resources necessary for patients to educate themselves and be better able to cope with the health challenges they
This paper explores the personal philosophy I have as a nursing student and what I intend to convey throughout my nursing career. A philosophy is “an analysis of the grounds and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, n.d.). Before entering into any profession it is important to evaluate your personal philosophy about the profession, as it pertains to values and principles in which believe in to guide your practice. The field of nursing is more than treating a physiological ailment, but it involves providing quality care for the individualized needs of each patient, hence being client centered. My philosophy of nursing integrates the importance of knowledge base practice of medicine, combined with addressing holistic needs of the patient and family, including the physical, psychological, cognitive, emotional, spiritual and social care (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2010). Additionally, a vital aspect of nursing is effective interpersonal relationships with other healthcare professionals to promote quality patient care. Moreover, my philosophy includes the importance the client-nurse relationship to aid in health promotion to prevent illness and increase the level of health of clients.
In contemporary nursing practice, nurses need to integrate scientific knowledge and nursing theories prior to providing optimal health care. Nursing theories guide nurses to treat clients in a supportive and dignified manner through client centred approaches. However, it is challenge for nurses to practice client centred care in daily realities due to heavy workloads. In order to assist nurses to decrease the gap between ideal and real practice, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) develops Best Practice Guideline of Client-centred-care (Neligan, Grinspun, JonasSimpson, McConnell, Peter, Pilkington, et al., 2002). This guideline offers values and beliefs as foundation of client-centred care, and the core processes of client-centred care can facilitate provision of optimal nursing care. These four core processes of client-centred care include identifying concerns, making decisions, caring and service, and evaluating outcomes. According to RNAO (2006), ongoing dialogue with clients and self-reflection are essential for nurses to develop their nursing skills and knowledge on client-centred care. As a nursing student, I reflected on written transcripts of interactions between patients and me, so that I could gain insights into client-centred care for further improvement. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss importance of the core processes of client-centred care in nursing practice through identifying and critiquing blocks to conversation. Based on the guideline of RNAO (2006), respect, human dignity, clients are experts for their own lives, responsiveness and universal access will be elaborated in each core process of client-centre care as reflecting on three dialogues with patients.
This essay will explain what patient centred care is, how nurses use it in practice, the benefits of using it, and the barriers that need to be overcome to able to use it, and the key principles of patient centred care. It will explain how patient centred care enables nurses to communicate and engage with the patients in a more effective way, and how it helps understand the uniqueness of each patient, which helps professionals avoid ‘warehousing’ patients (treating them all the same). It will also demonstrate how this type of care can help maintain the dignity of patients when nurses carry out tasks such as personal care.
Every person’s needs must be recognized, respected, and filled if he or she must attain wholeness. The environment must attuned to that wholeness for healing to occur. Healing must be total or holistic if health must be restored or maintained. And a nurse-patient relationship is the very foundation of nursing (Conway et al 2011; Johnson, 2011). The Theory recognizes a person’s needs above all. It sets up the conducive environment to healing. It addresses and works on the restoration and maintenance of total health rather than only specific parts or aspect of the patient’s body or personality. And these are possible only through a positive healing relationship between the patient and the nurse (Conway et al, Johnson).
...f expensive unanticipated medical events that could impair their quality of life. This will help maintaing the work force knowing that 81% of the uninsured are from working families. This proposal will also help creating a healthier America and establishing a new culture of following a healthier behavior. According to Cockerham "an important fact of health behavior includes contact by healthy people with physicians and other health personnel for preventive care".
Health care policies are plans that intended to determine or influence decisions or actions that will help to achieve specific health care goals. Most of these policies are actions taken by the government to improve the American health care system. The purpose of this essay is to describe the process of how a topic eventually becomes a policy and tie to how the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) policy process. This essay will include the formulation stage, legislative stage, and implementation stage of a complete policy process.
One of the goals of nursing is to respect the human rights, values and costumes of a patient and his or her family and with the community as a whole. The International Council of Nurses states that nursing practice can be defined generally as a dynamic, caring, helping relationship in which the nurse assists the client to achieve and maintain optimal health. As health care providers, we have some fundamental responsibilities such as to promote health, to prevent illnes...
As stated before they are the backbone of the healthcare team. Healthcare facilities must learn the value of nurses and what they bring to the table. They are the patient's advocate. Nurses have the ability to express the patients’ needs or desires to the interdisciplinary team. With the critical thinking and exquisite communication skills, a nurse is a vital component when it comes to patient care. Hospitals must understand recognize that without a sufficient number of nurses the quality of care declines substantially. By adopting this legislation, the states there will be more hospitals with a higher quality of care performance. The job of a nurse goes beyond just performing a medial task. A nurse must be able to connect with the patient based on their needs. A nurse has the to the ability to strategize and design a care plan that fit the patients and will reach every one of their needs. A nurse’s role is a lot more that than just administering medication, it goes beyond that and hospitals need to consider the effect it will have if they cut back on their nursing