title: Putting the 'patient' back into patient-centred care: an education perspective.
abstract: Patient-centred care is a value espoused by most healthcare systems and a concept taught in nursing education programs as a fundamental concept of patient care. In this study, we focused on the patient's experience of patient-centredness, interviewing eighteen patients and eight family members about their experiences as patients on an in-patient acute care medical unit in a large hospital in Canada. Approximately half of the patients expressed satisfaction with their experiences and their involvement in decisions about their healthcare. The remainder expressed concerns about their care that jeopardized their experiences of patient-centredness. These areas concerned issues of communication with and among healthcare professionals, relationships with these care providers, trust and respect in the professional relationships, and general satisfaction with care. Participants provided advice to professional students about ways to interact more effectively with their patients to establish caring, empathetic, patient-centred relationships as the basis for care. We address patient recommendations to support learner understanding of the patient experience both in classrooms and clinical experiences throughout educational programs as a means to enhance their patient-centredness.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E5. linda.ferguson@usask.ca
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Card
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McMurtry
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D003142:Communication; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006281:Health Occupations / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009732:Nursing Care; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research