By
Oluyemisi A. Okudele
Faye Glenn Abdellah’s
Patient-Centered
Approaches to
Nursing
Faye Glenn Abdellah, pioneer
nursing researcher, helped transform
nursing theory, nursing care and
nursing education .
In 1960, She was influenced by the
desire to promote client-centered
comprehensive nursing care,
Abdellah described nursing as a
service to individuals, to families,
and, therefore to, to society.
Former Chief Nurse Officer for the
US Public Health Service ,
Department of Health and human
services, Washington, D.C.
Dr Abdellah worked as Deputy
Surgeon General .
Grand theory based on Human
Needs.
Patient-Centered Approaches to
Nursing
 Patient-centered approach to nursing was developed by Faye G.
Abdellah. Developed inductively from her practice and is
considered a human needs theory.
 This theory was created to assist with nursing education, and is
most applicable to the education of nurses.
 The intension was to guide care of patients in the hospital, it also
has relevance for nursing care in community settings.
 According to Faye, nursing is based on an art and science that
mould the attitudes, intellectual competencies, and technical
skills of the individual nurse into the desire and ability to help
people , sick or well, cope with their health needs
Patient-Centered Approaches to
Nursing
 Abdellah and her colleagues developed a list of 21 nursing
problems.
 The 21 problems are actually a model describing the
"arenas" or concerns of nursing, rather than a theory
describing relationships among phenomena.
 In this way, the theory distinguished the practice of
nursing, with a focus on the 21 nursing problems, from the
practice of medicine, with a focus on disease and cure.
 The theory also help to identify nursing responsibilities.
Nursing
Responsibilities
Effective communication between
patient and caregiver. Information is
accurate, timely and appropriate.
Do everything possible to alleviate
patients’ pain and make them feel
comfortable.
We provide emotional support and
alleviate fears and anxiety.
We involve family and friends in
every phase of our patients’ care.
We ensure a smooth transition and
continuity from one focus of care to
another.
We guarantee every member of our
community has access to our care.
Patient-Centered Approaches to
Nursing
 They also identified 10 steps to identify the client’s
problems: Which will help the nurses to learn to know the
patient, Identify a therapeutic plan, discuss and develop a
comprehensive nursing care plan.
 11 nursing skills to be used in developing a treatment
typology: Which includes the observation of health
status, skills of communication, application of knowledge,
teaching of patients and families, use of resource materials,
use of personnel resources, problem-solving
Patient-Centered Approaches to
Nursing
Application to nursing
 Abdellah’s theory state’s that nursing is the use of the
problem solving approach with key nursing problems
related to health needs of people.
 Health is a dynamic pattern of functioning whereby there is
a continued interaction with internal and external forces
that results in the optimum use of necessary resources that
serve to minimize vulnerabilities.
 Such a statement maintains problem solving as the vehicle
for the nursing problems as the client is moved toward
health – the outcome.
Patient-Centered Approaches to
Nursing
Researches Completed
 Oncology Nursing: Palliative Care; A Patient-
Centered Approach -Is a method described in the PatientCentered Medicine--This approach to patient care focuses on
balancing caring and curing in providing care for patients in the 21st
century. Was used by clinicians from Australia and England.
 National Institute of Health: General practitioners and nurses in 21
practices were trained in patient-centered consulting and use of
materials for people with Type 2 diabetes.
 Trained nurses rated delivery of important aspects of care and
satisfaction with style of care as lower than comparison nurses, and
patients were more positive about delivery of care from trained than
comparison nurses.
Patient-Centered Approaches to
Nursing
 Patient-Centered Approaches to Nursing will be a good
approach to use in my practice, since I worked with
psychiatric patients (The Criminal Section).
 This will be a chance for the nurses to focus on the care of the
patient, not their crime, because when a patient is been
admitted, it has been the perspective of the nurses to judge
them, based on the crime committed.
 Patient Centered Approach should be used; This approach to
our patients will focus on balancing, caring, and also curing
when we provide care for our patients.
References

Lehigh Valley Health Network: A passion for better Medicine ;The Patient-Centered Approach to Care.
Retrieved September 21st 2009, from http://www.lvhn.org/nurses%7C631.

Current Nursing: A portals for Nursing Professionals; Nursing Theories: A companion to nursing theories and
models(2009). Retrieved September 21st 2009, from
http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Abdellah.htm


HighBeam Research: Palliative Care, Oncology Nursing Forum; A Patient-Centered Approach(2008).
Retrieved September 21st 2009, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-181236355.html

NCBI: A service of the U.S National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health; (1999). Diabetes care
from diagnosis, effects of training in patient-centered care on beliefs, attitudes and behavior of primary
care professionals. Retrieved September 21st 2009, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10640121?ordinalpos=9&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEn
.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

McEwen, M. & Wills, E.M. (2006). Theoretical Basis for Nursing: Patient-Centered Approaches to Nursing (2nd Ed).
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams &Wilkins.

(2009).