Patient Centered Nursing Care
What is patient Center Nursing Care? This question sounds alarming because whom does the nursing care center on, but the reflection on medical care causes wonder. Just as special education teachers use prescriptive teaching, nursing facilities need to examine each patient separately. Who are the players and how do they play into the situation.
Patient
Patients enter nursing care in a down state since they are need of care. There family members may offer assistance in symptoms and required care, but frequently care lacks attention to individuality of the patient. Pain tolerances, physical strength and knowledge vary for each patient. Communicating with the individuals involved requires an empathy that may take some time and cost to the program. Family members need to be on top of the situation since there are conflicting interests.
Doctors
The medical system has become specialized but patients and facilities have difficulty sorting through who addresses the present care. Most patients have a primary care provider and frequently they move back into the process of treatment prior to restoration of health. A patient goes to the hospital for surgery and while in the hospital, the surgeon answers to the patient care and the issues of the surgery play in the patient care, but the patient might need rehabilitation.
What happens at transfer of care? Frequently the primary care physician enters the picture without a full picture of the process necessary for rehabilitation. The facilities may not have a qualified rehabilitation doctor as their staff doctor since frequently nursing homes are adding rehabilitation services. The rehabilitation services need to address the consequences of the surgery, but the primary care provider holds bias from previous treatment. Keeping the goals and objectives associated with the present treatment requires diligence on the family.
Facilities
The baby boomer generation is prompting an examination of the medical system since they are aging but at a graceful manner. Nursing homes are seeing their general population declining because aging population is not as disabled and qualify for home health care. Many nursing homes add rehabilitation; they lack the facilities, staff or training to move from rehabilitation goals from custodial care. This removes the ability to individualize nursing care. The majority of care given is by lower level nursing care, nursing assistance, LPN and general practitioners. The goals and objectives of the surgeon disappear. These individuals understand custodial care, but not the individual care needed by the patient. Why is the option occurring? The answers lie with the last player, insurance.
Insurance
Insurance companies have table and rules that create a generalized care for all patients, which removes the patient from the care. Medicare insurance requires patients to spent three days in the hospital after a procedure to qualify for rehabilitation services and once they get the rehabilitation, service Medicare allows 100 days no matter what. Where is the incentive for the facilities to individualize care and return home? The family fears custodial care becoming necessary because regression occurs rather than rehabilitation to a level of no return.
Patient care needs to return to prevent further hospitalization, help return to self-sufficiency and prevent manipulation of systems for personal benefit. Patient care requires individualization of care.
