Healthcare Quarterly
First, although the term seems self-explanatory, "patient-centred care" is either used without being defined, or is defined by anything from a one-line statement to a lengthy document. There is even disagreement about whether we are caring for "patients" or "clients." If we are going to base our healthcare on a philosophical ideal we should be able to develop one definition and description of what that ideal is. No one can argue with the idea that care ought to be centred on patients, but it means different things to caregivers, hospital administrators and patients. This leads to the next problem with the term patient-centred care, which is a lack of truthfulness.
A strange thing happened when the phrase "patient-centred care" was coined - it became a smokescreen to hide economic decisions that were being made during hospital restructuring. The term was used to mislead nurses and others into thinking that the dramatic changes imposed were actually good for patient care. Patient-centred care became the new mantra for institutions and organizations that in fact were shifting away from an individual patient mode to an economically driven, institution-centred business mode. Patient-centred care, in practice, became the total opposite of what the term should mean. Too bad a nurse did not write about that; it took an investigative journalist, Suzanne Gordon (2005), to state that patient-centred care is "one of those Orwellian formulations used to describe its opposite." Nurses informed her that "under the guise of patient-centred care … they were losing their ability to centre on the patient" (Gordon 2005: 229).
A third problem with patient-centred care is the underlying assumption that all competent patients are always right, no matter what they do. This would mean that "nurses are to be guided by the business motto 'the customer is always right' " (Kikuchi 2004: 5). But patients and family members are not always right. Like the defecating patient, they can be rude, offensive and abusive towards nurses and other members of the healthcare team. As Kikuchi further stated, when patients become "customers," their satisfaction becomes the goal of nursing, and "professional judgment in relation to patients' choices becomes irrelevant."
Ensuring that effective patient-centred care can actually be accomplished requires some changes. The first change is honesty. All healthcare practitioners and decision-makers must stop pretending that patient-centred care can occur when healthcare budgets are being slashed and staffing is being reduced at the same time that patient acuity and nursing workloads in hospitals are being increased. Honesty may also help to solve the dilemma about a realistic definition of patient-centred care and how to differentiate between institutional and patient-centred interests.
The second change involves education. Many current nursing programs do not require courses in patient-centred care, although they may be offered as electives. Health Canada has launched an initiative, Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice (IECPCP), which has the potential to transform hospital environments by changing the way that healthcare providers are educated. If this initiative is successful, patient-centredness will be part of the education process of every healthcare discipline.
The third step involves changing our healthcare delivery systems and processes to ensure that nurses and all healthcare professionals are able to practise patient-centred care; this includes realistic staffing and workloads to ensure that the work can be accomplished safely. Patients deserve to be the centre of our care - all healthcare practitioners and decision-makers must make patient-centred care a priority and a reality.
About the Author(s)
Billie Hilborn, RN, CNeph(C), BScN, MHSc(C), is a Toronto-based research consultant.
References
Gordon, S. 2005. Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care. New York: Cornell University Press.
Kikuchi, J. 2004. "2002 CNA Code of Ethics: Some Recommendations." Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership 17(3). Retrieved February 7, 2005. http://www.nursingleadership.net/
NL173/NL173Kikuchi.html.
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