Patient-Centered Care: A Practice in Empathy

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Patient-Centered Care: A Practice in Empathy

By CareerSmart® Learning Contributor, March 24, 2017, as published by Healthcare Hot Spot

The healthcare field is uniquely composed of people who genuinely want to help others in some way.  The concept of patient-centered care is based on improving the relationship between the care provider and the patient as well as addressing and incorporating the psychosocial component to the care management continuum. The patient-centered care model promotes the opportunity to exercise empathy towards improving the patient’s hospital experience. Empathy as described in Mosby’s Medical Dictionary is “the ability to recognize and to some extent share the emotions and states of mind of another and to understand the meaning and significance of that person’s behavior”.     When the day is packed with medication times, discharge preparation, and everything in between, sometimes patient-centered care can get lost in the hustle. Providing good patient-centered care does not have to take a lot of time. Here are some simple tips you can incorporate in your daily schedule. 

Patient care is not just the act of providing care or healing. There is a strong emphasis on relationship building and understanding the individual’s feeling and the meaning behind their illness in a patient-centered approach.  What does this illness mean to the patient and how can we make their experience better by having this information?  While the day’s schedule doesn’t make this easy, understanding the experience of being a patient is a great way to remember the importance of patient-centered care.

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