Person Centred Care
The Importance of Using an Individualised Person Centred Approach to Nursing Care with and for Older People
This essay explores the idea of Person Centred Care and the significance it has in caring for an older patient. Issues related to patients incapable of taking part in their care will also be discussed. Each and every patient should be treated holistically and individually to their own personal needs as part of any nursing care plan. This essay will show this is especially evident in the person centred approach to caring for the older patient.
What is person centred care? Originally developed by Dr. Carl Rogers in the 1960s as an approach to psychotherapy, person centred care is an approach to nursing care which involves the patient’s participation in their own care. (Cited by Cox, 2011) It requires a therapeutic relationship between nurse and patient in order for the best outcome for the patient. The nurse’s role in this situation is to recognise the patient as a partner in their care, to provide a network of personal support and practical expertise without directing; only advising and facilitating the patient down their own path to recovery. (McCormack, 2003)
Why consider treating older patients differently?
Science has taught us of the physiological changes in the body with age. These ageing changes include: the way sickness presents itself in the older body, the response of the human body to the treatment given and even some treatments that may no longer be suitable. Psychological changes affect memory as a result of ageing. There can be a lesser understanding due to the change in technology and medicine over time with more modern procedures and equipment. (Lippincott, 2011) It is common sense that because the patient is older their patient history could be more extensive than a younger patient. They may have been exposed to contagious illnesses that lay dormant in their bodies until now. Extra consideration to all aspects of the patient’s
This essay explores the idea of Person Centred Care and the significance it has in caring for an older patient. Issues related to patients incapable of taking part in their care will also be discussed. Each and every patient should be treated holistically and individually to their own personal needs as part of any nursing care plan. This essay will show this is especially evident in the person centred approach to caring for the older patient.
What is person centred care? Originally developed by Dr. Carl Rogers in the 1960s as an approach to psychotherapy, person centred care is an approach to nursing care which involves the patient’s participation in their own care. (Cited by Cox, 2011) It requires a therapeutic relationship between nurse and patient in order for the best outcome for the patient. The nurse’s role in this situation is to recognise the patient as a partner in their care, to provide a network of personal support and practical expertise without directing; only advising and facilitating the patient down their own path to recovery. (McCormack, 2003)
Why consider treating older patients differently?
Science has taught us of the physiological changes in the body with age. These ageing changes include: the way sickness presents itself in the older body, the response of the human body to the treatment given and even some treatments that may no longer be suitable. Psychological changes affect memory as a result of ageing. There can be a lesser understanding due to the change in technology and medicine over time with more modern procedures and equipment. (Lippincott, 2011) It is common sense that because the patient is older their patient history could be more extensive than a younger patient. They may have been exposed to contagious illnesses that lay dormant in their bodies until now. Extra consideration to all aspects of the patient’s