Introduction
Nursing is a discipline mainly concerned with the profusion of quality healthcare services to patients. The concept of person-centered care is critically discussed in this essay. The role of the nurse, who is responsible for providing the care needed, is also reviewed. Medical practitioners apply this concept to build personal relationships with their clients, which positively enhances their careers. Person-centered care means attending to the patient with honor and decency and involving them in decision-making concerning their well-being (Rantala, Ingoldsson, and Persson, 2019). This is important due to the different preferences in people to ensure they are comfortable both emotionally and physically. Further, person-centered care means ensuring the safety of both the patient and their family members for them to feel loved and cared for (Kennedy, 2017). This essay discusses the fundamental notions of individual-centered care, including a concept examination, and the role of the nurse in tackling inequalities in health and health inequalities. It additionally discusses the government and Scottish strategies, empowering staff and service users, and developing techniques and skills. The main emphasis in all this discussion revolves around the prominent role of the nurse in person-centered care delivery.
Person-Centered: Conceptual Analysis
Specific defining attributes of conceptual analysis clarify ambiguous concepts that define how the nursing field operates. Person-centered care is a set of decisions and actions in which individuals who use health care and public services are seen as equal members in preparing, creating, and evaluating care to ensure that it fulfills their expectations. This necessitates that health care and social service providers collaborate with users. Person-centered treatment helps people gain the expertise, abilities, and trust they require to better handle and make informed, rational choices about their well-being. Apart from the definition in the introduction, the person-centered concept can be understood in various ways and dimensions: relation-centered care, individualized care, patient-centered care, and societal engagement care (Santana et al., 2018). The cultural conceptualization of them revolving around the individual’s way of life is also examined (Sharifi, Adib-Hajbaghery, and Najafi, 2019). Cultural knowledge means understanding what the culture entails as it may differ from society to society.
The sensitivity involves knowing the values and respect required for one to be accepted as a member. Going against the culture is against person-centered care; hence culture must be preserved and adhered to. Leadership in nursing homes is another essential attribute that promotes delivering services (Lynch et al., 2018). Health organizations must follow accepted protocols concerning how the supporting staff and medical practitioners conduct themselves. Poor leadership qualities are against the expectations of person-centered care hence need to have sound and non-judgmental leadership qualities.
Health Inequalities
There should be equality between all the personnel in the clinical setup, including allocation and access to medical services. The term refers to the difference in the status or distribution of health resources between different populations (Inglis et al., 2019). It can occur as a result of social, proximal, and biological mechanisms. It can only be reduced through favorable government policies’ range of more proximal environmental, social, psychological, economic, and physical tools.
Psychological factors include depression, hostility, and stress which might occur either in the process of receiving service or at home. Socially, factors like differences in education level, employment status, income, and gender also influence how resources are distributed. Social status classifies people into different classes, which are middle, upper, and lower. For instance, in countries such as Scotland, social status influences how resources are distributed (Keep, 2017). Further, NHS Scotland argues about the influence of different income distribution at the household, national and neighborhood levels (Richardson et al., 2020). The rich may seem to have no barriers to accessing services as they can afford them. A society where there is inequality in the distribution of resources goes against the concept of person-centered care. This gives basic behavior principles that must be followed for persons to fit in.
Solving Inequalities
Nurses play a significant role in ensuring there is equity in services and the distribution of resources. Nurse leaders should be at the forefront in challenging some of the set policies which affect average citizens (Hemingway and Bosanquet, 2018). Leaders are a higher state and have better opportunities to negotiate with policymakers to make the necessary adjustment. This is due to the physical gap existing between leaders and citizens and the possibilities of interaction. Nurses should solve issues such as poverty and improve health education to sustain better living conditions (Hemingway and Bosanquet, 2018). Health education creates awareness of various causes of diseases and possible control remedies—the importance of exercise, a healthy diet, and common signs and symptoms of multiple conditions. Poverty levels can reduce when people become creative and come up with critical innovations in the field of medicine. The existence of inequalities creates a barrier in the stretch of health services that ensure life exists.
Government and NHS Scotland Strategies
The government is the primary decision-maker and policy concerning how various conduct activities in the different sectors like health, education, religion, and the state itself. This is done by multiple strategies which give vision guidance and possible amendments (Radhakrishnan, Singh, and Verma, 2017). Offering person-centered care is a primary goal that is considered first in the NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government (NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government, 2019). The government aims at coordinating with healthcare providers to deliver care that meets the various needs of people. People must be treated with respect and dignity, and the information provided when they visit hospitals should be kept confidential. In addition, compassion and empathy values must be adopted. Specialized and personalized care for patients with critical conditions such as chronic diseases should also be handled with a lot of care. Support by the government is also vital since the services given are expensive, and most of the victims cannot afford them.
The governments set policies specifically explaining how nurses must conduct themselves while at work. Involving citizens in decision-making gives them a sense of belonging and their responsibility in protecting their health (Tidmarsh and Stewart, 2019). The policies must be followed, and if nurses fail to adhere to them, they should be punished for going against patients’ rights (Annesley, 2019). The role of nurses in a person-centered approach is to ensure the development and implementation of the given suggestions (Daly, 2017). Human beings have the right to do what they want but may harm others if laws governing them don’t exist.
Empowering Staff and Service Users
Community empowerment is the process of creating awareness in the community members so that they can know their values of life. It is one of the significant development goals in how public services are distributed to the Scottish residents (Elliott et al., 2019). Its main aim is to improve the national performance framework in ensuring equality in all dimensions. To deliver quality and not the quantity of service and to change the perspective of people on the access to public services (Ballard et al., 2018). The role of person-centered care by the nurses is to identify possible barriers which affect the passing of knowledge by taking into consideration the states they are in (Lewis¸ Sloan and O’Loughlin, 2017). This can be achieved by creating a good rapport with patients to open up and give out the information needed.
Techniques and Skills
Skills such as attitude development, communication, and professionalism are essential in nursing. Positive attitudes towards the sick, both in and out of the hospital, are helpful to a nurse (Lariviere, 2019). They must have passion for the career, approach patients in a friendly and acceptable manner, and avoid harassment (Chen et al., 2017). Communication skills such as straight interrogation, use of polite language, and listening must be adopted (Keep, 2017). The use of vulgar language must be prohibited and should never be used even though the patient initiates it. Various disorders can cause damage to the brain leading to flawed reasoning and, therefore, careless talking. Person-centered care for mental disability effects enables the nurse to identify unattractive personalities, unique traits, and behaviors (Martin, 2019). They will further know the kind of technique to apply to be able to serve the patient peacefully.
Conclusion
In conclusion, person-centered care is aimed at providing quality care to patients without compromising them. The fundamental perceptions of person-centered upkeep include a concept examination and the nurse’s role in tackling health inequalities. The cultural image includes sensitivity and knowledge, which gives a cultural basis for interaction. Health inequalities are caused by environmental, social, psychological, economic, and biological mechanisms whereby some of the factors are beyond human control. Nurses play a significant role in eliminating inequalities in various ways, such as educating the people on poverty and health. They are also responsible for ensuring of development and implementation of set policies. Illiteracy is a significant cause of diseases as people might be building illnesses without their knowledge. Education on the effects of alcohol consumption and smoking is crucial as the latter cause deadly diseases. A person needs to adopt a better lifestyle and eating habits to avoid health complications.
The government and NHS Scotland strategies ensure that the set laws and working policies are followed. Those who act against them are punished for their disobedience and shown the right paths to follow. They, therefore, help in bridging the gap between the various status of people and promoting equality. Empowering Staff and Service Users ensures awareness of how the patients should be handled and essential skills such as communication and the right attitudes toward clients.
The nurse can use person-centered health care in service delivery. One example of nurses delivering person-centered care is using the right communication skills to interact with the clients. Communication is critical, and nothing can occur without it, and if possible, common non-verbal skills should be learned as they may be helpful in a particular context. Nurses must treat people as humans to meet the required set objectives as a general goal in the career.
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