Analysis

Person-Centred Nursing Framework

Raven Jinks

Chamberlain University

Person-Centred Nursing Framework

The Person-Centred Nursing Framework is an approach to caregiving recently developed by McCormack and McCance. Unlike other nursing frameworks in practice today, person-centred care considers the recipients of health care and other social services to be equal partners in the planning, development, and monitoring of the care (Van der Cingel, 2016). The framework offers a theoretical model that includes descriptions of core concepts and the relationships that exist between them. The Person-Centred Nursing Framework is considered the best choice to use in enhancing one’s understanding of the main nursing concepts. For example, the framework addresses “caring relationship,” “personal uniqueness,” “cue giving,” “context of care,” “value and outcomes of care”, and “professional competencies and personhood of the nurse.”

Overview of the Framework

The four main concepts within the nursing metaparadigm include the “person,” “health,” “nursing,” and the “environment.” As a theoretical framework, the person-centred nursing approach addresses each of the four concepts separately. For instance, the concept of being unique addresses the metaparadigm “person” aspects, including their appearance and characteristics, relations, emotions, wishes, and preferences. The “health” concept, on the other hand, is addressed focusing on the value and outcome of care. The Person-Centred Nursing Framework is concerned about the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the person receiving health and social services (McCance, McCormack and Dewing, 2011). In regards to the concept of “nursing,” the Person-Centred Nursing Framework is concerned with the professional competencies and the personhood of the nurse and the nurse assistant. For instance, the educational characteristics and work experiences of the nursing professionals are prioritized over other attributes.

Furthermore, the “environment” of care is a crucial aspect of the nursing profession in as far as the Person-Centred Framework is concerned. The concept is referred to as the context of care in the framework and entails the material, the caring situation, location, and the work culture of the healthcare facility (Kitson et al., 2013). The Person-Centred Nursing Framework addresses all the four concepts within the nursing metaparadigm by providing interwoven principles of empirical significance.

Person-Centred Nursing Qualifies as a Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework explains the phenomenon in a study because it acts more like the proof of a researcher’s hypothesis. The Person-Centred Nursing Framework qualifies as a theoretical framework for two reasons. First, it utilizes empirical studies to substantiate its practicality in the nursing practice (Kitson, 2017). For nurses to understand how the framework is applicable in practice, one should use an empirically derived explanation obtained from analytical data. Secondly, one can only recognize the concepts of the framework when nurses identify and understand the uniqueness of the persons under their care. Failure to do so will undermine the effectiveness of the action the nurse will take in response to the needs of the person. The person-centred care approach enables nurses to have a caring relationship with the person seeking health and social services.

All the concepts of the framework are manifested in the routine workflow of a nurse, and one can recognize them at a glance. For instance, a caring relationship between the nurses and the ones seeking the health services is made possible by one of the concepts in the framework which is evidenced by the use of values such as trust, involvement, and humor in practice (Van der Cingel, 2016). Also, the framework is centered on mutuality, and nurses who acknowledge emotions and show compassion manifest a caring relationship, which is a core concept of the framework. These illustrations show how the person-centred nursing approach qualifies as a theoretical framework in the nursing profession.

Application of the Person-Centred Nursing Framework in the Future APN Role

Today’s healthcare industry is characterized by significant advances and a high demand for medical services. Therefore, the services of health care professionals are scarce which puts a lot of pressure on nursing practitioners. Also, as the need for more personal care continues to rise with time, the services of physicians will no longer be sufficient to offer satisfactory outcomes. Nevertheless, given that more nurses are pursuing master’s degrees, the future is likely to witness a surge of Nurse Practitioners (NP) with the ability to replace physicians and other advanced health care, professionals. When this happens, the Person-Centred Nursing Framework will find relevance in practice as an alternative or supplementary approach to patient care (Morgan and Tarbi, 2016). Given its emphasis on caring relationships and professional qualifications, the framework will fit into the role of advanced practice nurses in the future and therefore help to lower the pressure on physicians and other health care professionals.

Conclusion

To sum up, the role of nurses has undergone significant transformations in the past decade since the development of the Person-Centred Nursing Framework. The emphasis of the framework on caring relationships, personal uniqueness, professional competencies, and the context and outcomes of care make it a relevant theoretical tool that is applicable and useful in the present and future practice of nurses. Therefore, the study of the framework is helpful for everyday activities of caregivers.

References

Kitson, A. (2017). What is Person-Centered Fundamental Care and how do we do it? BMC Nursing, 16.

Kitson, A., Marshall, A., Bassett, K., & Zeitz, K. (2013). What are the core elements of patient‐centered care? A narrative review and synthesis of the literature from health policy, medicine, and nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(1), pp.4-15.

McCance, T., McCormack, B., & Dewing, J. (2011). An exploration of person-centeredness in practice. Online Journal Issues Nursing, 16(2), pp.1-67

Morgan, B., & Tarbi, E. (2016, February). The role of the advanced practice nurse in geriatric oncology care. In Seminars in Oncology Nursing, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 33-43.

Van der Cingel, M., Brandsma, L., van Dam, M., van Dorst, M., Verkaart, C., & van der Velde, C. (2016). Concepts of person-centered care: a framework analysis of five studies in daily care practices. International Practice Development Journal, 6(2), pp.1-14.