Patient Experience in Healthcare: Importance of Patient-Centered Care

Running head: BACHELOR OF NURSING 1
Bachelor of Nursing
Name
Institution

BACHELOR OF NURSING 2
Patient Experience
Introduction
Patient engagement that involves patients sharing their experiences is believed to be a
very fundamental strategy in improving the quality of care and outcomes provided by most
healthcare facilities. Patients should be actively involved in working with health practitioners
across different levels of healthcare to improve service delivery within the system (Ahmed, Burt
& Roland, 2014). Taking an example of the presented case scenario of the 75 years old patient,
we notice that engaging him and being informed regarding his experience can only improve
future care plans for patients with similar complications. In this essay, I will talk about the
experience of the patient. I will additionally share my feelings regarding the same. Furthermore,
I will discuss some of the values and beliefs impacted on me by his experience.
Patient Experience
Mr. Taylor experienced a serious fall that led to serious injuries that have impacted him
to date. His right arm got incapacitated and he could not use it to perform any tasks. There was
no one to help him out of the gutter so he had to struggle to rescue himself and get home. At
home, his wife wanted to drive him to a public hospital but he refused due to his former
experience at a similar facility. He instead contacted his GP who gave him directions on what to
do. Four weeks after diagnosis he again experiences another fall in the house after feeling dizzy.
He is then diagnosed with anemia but the doctor could not find why he as anemic so he had to be
given a pill cam. He also has other conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and allergic
rhinitis.

BACHELOR OF NURSING 3
I feel that care in public hospitals should be made faster to improve the quality of the
outcome. This could prevent patients from having to wait for long hours before being attended
to. In the presented case scenario, Mr. Taylor refused to go to a public hospital because of his
previous experience. If the patient care at the public hospital was better, then he could not have
waited until the next day to see his personal GP. What if his injuries got worse during the night
leading to deterioration? This is the question that has influenced my thoughts and feelings
because of the fact that he had to wait until the next day when he could instead go to a public
hospital to receive urgent care. According to Epstein & Street (2011), this can only be made
possible if the facilities in public hospitals could be improved and patient-centered care made
better.
From the scenario, it is clear that one of the most important values anyone could have is a
family. This value together with the belief of quality care must have impacted on my feelings
and thoughts about what transpired. These two originate from the strong family bonds that
people share together with the goodwill of caring for others. A family is very important
especially when one of the members falls ill. This is because they are the most immediate
caregivers. Like in the case of Mr. Taylor, his wife was able to drive him to see his GP the next
day and for several other weeks when he still could not use his arms. This goes far to prove how
a family was important to Mr. Taylor after his accident. Additionally, the belief of quality care
must also have affected my feelings after reading that there was some time when Taylor had to
wait in a public hospital for eleven hours before being attended to. Quality care should be
fundamental in any healthcare setting to ensure positive care outcomes.
There were, however, aspects of care that were inadequate in the provided case scenario,
like long waiting hours before attendance by a healthcare practitioner. One example was when