What strategies can nurse leaders use to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to patients and their families?

From the Guidelines

Nurse leaders should prioritize patient-centered care by engaging patients and families as partners in care, fostering a collaborative environment that respects their values, preferences, and needs. This approach is supported by the American College of Physicians position paper 1, which emphasizes the importance of patient and family partnership in care. The paper suggests that patients and families can partner with healthcare providers at various levels, including direct-care, organizational, and policy levels, to offer perspectives and advice on care design and redesign.

To achieve this, nurse leaders can implement several strategies, including:

• Establishing clear communication channels with patients and families to share information transparently and comprehensively about diagnoses, treatment plans, and medication regimens
• Promoting shared decision-making by actively involving patients and families in care planning discussions, respecting their preferences and values
• Implementing interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure comprehensive care delivery, with regular team meetings to coordinate efforts across specialties
• Establishing continuous quality improvement processes, using patient satisfaction surveys and outcome metrics to identify areas for enhancement
• Creating a healing environment that prioritizes privacy, comfort, and cultural sensitivity to help patients feel respected and valued

A more recent study published in 2021 1 reinforces the importance of patient-centered care, highlighting the need to establish and confirm the patient's and family's perspective in primary care settings. This study emphasizes the value of collaboration between patients, families, and caregivers in improving risk factor management and outcomes.

By prioritizing patient-centered care and engaging patients and families as partners, nurse leaders can improve patient outcomes, increase satisfaction, and enhance the overall quality of care. This approach is consistent with the principles of patient-centered care, which emphasize respect for patient preferences, coordination of care, information sharing, physical comfort, emotional support, involvement of family, and continuity of care.

From the Research

Strategies for Nurse Leaders to Provide Patient-Centered Care

Nurse leaders can use several strategies to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to patients and their families, including:

• Effective communication: High-quality communication is a key determinant and facilitator of patient-centered care 2
• Care coordination: Registered nurses play an essential role in care coordination, which relies on effective coordination of patient care centered on the needs and preferences of patients and their families 3
• Caring and resiliency: A caring and resilient model for leadership may be necessary to support the continuance of nurse leader success and avoid discouragement and attrition 4
• Core communication competencies: Nursing faculty play a significant role in preparing the nursing workforce to communicate effectively and provide patient-centered care, including core communication competencies such as patient-centered care, interprofessional collaboration, and informatics 5
• Leadership and advocacy: Nurses can use communication to motivate their team members and advocate for patients, promoting person-centred care and empowering themselves to lead clinical teams 6

Key Communication Skills

Some of the essential communication skills that nurses require to promote person-centred care include:

• Verbal communication: Effective communication between the patient and nurse is an essential requirement for nursing practice and for patient-centered care 2, 5
• Non-verbal communication: Non-verbal communication is an often-neglected area that is vital in enabling nurse leaders to motivate their team members and advocate for patients 6
• Written communication: Written communication is also an essential skill that nurses require to promote person-centred care and provide patient-centered care 6

Implementing Patient-Centered Care

To implement patient-centered care, nurse leaders can:

• Use a caring and resilient model for leadership to support the continuance of nurse leader success and avoid discouragement and attrition 4
• Focus on care coordination, centered on the needs and preferences of patients and their families 3
• Develop core communication competencies, including patient-centered care, interprofessional collaboration, and informatics 5
• Use effective communication skills, including verbal, non-verbal, and written communication, to motivate team members and advocate for patients 2, 6