Patient-Centred Care and Communication

Throughout my nursing practice, there is several situations that come to mind in reference to patient-centred care and communication. Communication is the biggest barrier to people due to many obstacles from education level to their ability to be receptive in their moment of crisis (The Eight Principles of Patient-Centered Care · Oneview 2019). Typically in the Emergency Department, situations can escalate quickly, having support and someone to guide you through uncharted territory is super beneficial. Unfortunately, the pressure is usually placed on a loved one who is doing their best to just hold it together at that moment. Nursing advocates always encourage patients and families to fill out advanced directives to assist in a situation such as an emergency. My experience brings me to a 44 y/o female brought into the Emergency Department as an unresponsive related to an overdose. The physician immediately came in and started asking questions to the boyfriend and the mother, while explaining what was going to be done to maintain her airway. The provider spoke so fast and did not attempt to make sure the family was understanding the procedures to come. The family immediately started asking questions in reference to intubation and before we could intubate the patient we had a code grey in the room while trying to maintain her airway. This required even more resources and was very stressful trying to manage both situations in a professional manner. In this scenario, I think this could have been prevented if the provider took a little more time to make sure the family was understanding what he was saying. The provider also should have been using more appropriate language the family could understand versus the medical terminology. In this scenario the outcome for the patient and family was great but it did leave a lasting negative experience for the family in their time of need. Emergency Medicine and nursing is really about meeting the patient where they are in terms of physical health, emotional and mental health. In healthcare, person-centred care is where the patients actively participate in their treatment in close cooperation with health care professionals (N. Mead et al., 1970). References N. Mead, P., M. Stewart, J., K. Cooper, B., Cott, C., P. Little, H., F. Gzil, C., . . . KL. Wanyonyi, M. (1970, January 01). Scoping review of patient-centred care approaches in healthcare. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from The Eight Principles of Patient-Centered Care · Oneview. (2019, June 04). Retrieved July 23, 2020, from