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Patient Centred Care : Patient Care

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This essay will discuss patient centred care and some of the main principles associated to it. It will also discuss why patient centred care is so important in nursing and acknowledges that there will always be opportunities and times when these principles can continually be improved upon and developed through further training and education.
Gerteis et al (1993) suggests there are 7 dimensions of patient centred care. These involve respect, preferences and expressed need, coordination and integration of care, information, communication and education, physical comfort, emotional support, involvement of family and friends, and continuity. These dimensions do not appear to have changed over the past 20 years, however McCance et al (2009) suggest that the attributes of the nurse should be another dimension included in patient centred care.
The Institute on Medicine (2012) defines patient-centred care as respectful and responsive to individual patients’ preferences, needs, and values and ensures that the patient or family are in control of all clinical decisions and maintaining core values. This again highlights the focus on the patient, their values, and involvement of the family.
The International Alliance of Patients Organizations (2012) state that in patient centred care patients should be equal partners in planning and developing their care and that the care must be focused to promote independence and automony and based on a collaborative philosophy.
Collins (2014) suggests

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