Discussion: Patient Care Study

Discussion: Patient Care Study

Discussion: Patient Care Study

Week 3 discussion Topic 1 To access the South University Online Library, go to Course Home > Academic Resources > Library > Launch Library. Search the database to identify a nursing research study that could make a difference in patient care. Present the study and discuss the potential impact on nursing practice and/or patient care. Topic 2 Identify the three phases of the nurse-patient relationship and discuss how the phases can be helpful in communicating effectively to patients, patients’ families, and other healthcare professionals. Citations should conform to APA guidelines. You may use this APA Citation Helper as a convenient reference for properly citing resources or connect to the APA Style website through the APA icon below.

Improving patient care has become a priority for all health care providers with the overall objective of achieving a high degree of patient satisfaction. Greater awareness among the public, increasing demand for better care, keener competition, more health care regulation, the rise in medical malpractice litigation, and concern about poor outcomes are factors that contribute to this change.

The quality of patient care is essentially determined by the quality of infrastructure, quality of training, competence of personnel and efficiency of operational systems. The fundamental requirement is the adoption of a system that is ‘patient orientated’. Existing problems in health care relate to both medical and non-medical factors and a comprehensive system that improves both aspects must be implemented. Health care systems in developing countries face an even greater challenge since quality and cost recovery must be balanced with equal opportunities in patient care.

Non-medical Aspects

The fact that the patient is the most important person in a medical care system must be recognised by all those who work in the system. This single factor makes a significant difference to the patient care in any hospital. In developing countries financial constraints often lead to compromised quality of care. This can be corrected by the introduction of management systems that emphasise cost recovery. Our experience shows that a system should first be developed to attract patients who can afford to pay for high quality services and such a system should then be extended to non-paying patients