The Concept of a Patient-Centered Approach

The first nursing intervention I learned was the concept of a patient-centered approach. Although I understand the concept, in theory, I had the chance to experience it practically. A patient came to the site with a chronic condition, diabetes, but also seemed to be mentally disturbed. The patient was a woman in her late fifties, and although her condition seemed to require only management, her mental condition made her look worse. Her husband had died from a tragic accident more than ten years ago, and this incident most likely made the patient suffer from trauma; she had not gotten over the incident yet. As I attended to the patient, I recalled some of the best practices such as demonstration of love, empathy, and care, which make up the concept of patient-centered care (Merav & Hochman, 2017). The patient needed someone with whom she could talk, particularly to offload the pangs of pain she had endured over the years. When I got the patient’s trust, I used the opportunity to educate her about various intervention strategies to address her mental issues too. I implored upon her to engage in physical exercises, and join support groups to evade loneliness. 

Another important thing I learned was about sharing knowledge and experiences with colleagues at the workplace. I discovered that sharing knowledge made us all better. For instance, since we would be assigned different wards, sharing experiences would make us know what to expect when we were moved to different wards. Therefore, we would prepare better to avoid anxiety and surprise. Additionally, the sharing of knowledge made us bolder and more confident in our duties. At a personal level, I found the practice of sharing of knowledge being an educative process, which made me serve patients better and confidently. 

Reference 

Merav Ben Natan PhD, R. N., & Hochman, O. (2017). Patient-centered care in healthcare and its implementation in nursing.  International Journal of Caring Sciences ,  10 (1), 596.