Running head: PATIENT-CENTERED CARE
Patient and Family-Centered Care
Tracey Culick
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR351: Transitions in Professional Nursing
August 2015
1
2
PATIENT-CENTERED CARE
Patient and Family-Centered Care
Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC) is to make sure the patient’s and their family’s
needs are met during times of illness. Treating the patient and family as a whole helps the
patient to overcome their illness. PFCC is supporting the patient and their family in decisionmaking, enabling them to become active members in their healthcare. The professional nurse
plays an important role as part of the support system through education, planning, interventions,
spiritual well-being, and decision-making. This paper will discuss the importance of the
utilization of PFCC, which will lead to greater improvements in healthcare.
Concepts that Relate to Patient and Family-Centered Care
When a patient becomes ill, there are many ways to help support them and their family.
With illness comes uncertainty and possible depression or anger, which makes education
important. Knowledge about their illness helps prepare the patient and their family with what is
to come, how treatment is supposed to help them recover and overall decrease their concerns and
anxiety.
The patient will have a plan initiated that will be customized to them with interventions
that will help maximize the comfort of the individual while giving the patient a sense of control
over their illness which thereby decreases anxiety that the patient and family may have. Sharing
responsibility for the patient helps the family feel as if they are a part of the team. Showing
empathy and courage for the family keeps the family’s spirits high and enables them to be
stronger for the patient. It is important for the nurse to be a part of the support system for the
family and patient.
Providing Patient and Family-Centered Care to a Client’s Support System
3
PATIENT-CENTERED CARE
The family is a system and “unplanned events is usually perceived as more stressful than
expected” (Hood, 2014, p. 412). Family-centered care (FCC) “is the professional support of the
child and the family through a process of involvement and participation, underpinned by
empowerment and negotiation” (Mikkelsen & Fredericksen, 2011). Gaining the family’s trust
may be accomplished by using the intervention skills that follow the Family System Model. It is
important for the professional nurse to become a partner with the patient and/or child as well as
the family gaining their trust and helping to reduce stress by giving them updates, listening to
their questions, and providing answers.
Characteristics that define the partnership between parents and professionals is separated
into four categories. The responsibility shared by all is one category, the next is when the parent
has some control in what is going on, and then allowing them to come to a decision with all
parties involved having the support of the family (Mikkelsen & Fredericksen, 2011). Helping
the family by talking to them about their stress and concerns should also be a priority. Some
families feel guilty or blame themselves for the situation, so the nurse may tell them about
support groups or other organizations that teach them how to cope with the hardships and stress
of caring for an ill family member.
Conclusion
Efforts to improve PFCC begins with the healthcare team supporting, educating, and
encouraging the patient and family to be active members in their care. The more information
and education the patient and family has, the more motivated they will be to get well. This will
also help to decrease their anxiety. A patient must have a sense of control over their illness as
well as feeling safe and comfortable with their healthcare team. Greater improvements in patient
care can occur through understanding and utilizing the PFCC.
4
PATIENT-CENTERED CARE
References
Hood, L.J. (2014). Leddy & Pepper’s conceptual bases of professional nursing (8th ed., pp. 408415). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Mikkelsen, G. & Frederiksen, K. (2011). Family-centered care of children in hospital – a concept
analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing (67)5, 1152-1162. doi: 10.1111/j.13652648.2010.05574.x