Patient Experience and Partnering in Care

This essay discusses the importance of patient engagement in improving healthcare outcomes and quality of care. It highlights the experience of a patient who fell and the impact of involving patients in care decisions. The essay also talks about preventing falls and e-health technologies.

Running head: NURSING 1
Nursing
Name
Institution

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Patient Experience and Partnering in Care
Introduction
Most healthcare facilities use patient engagement whereby patients share their
experiences. This approach is very fundamental in improving the quality of care and outcomes in
the healthcare setting. According to Ahmed, Burt & Roland (2014), actively involving patients to
work with health practitioners across various healthcare levels helps in improving service
delivery within the system. For example, a case is presented involving a 75 years old patient,
where we realize that involving him and getting to understand his experience can be helpful in
improving future care plans for individuals with comparable complications. This essay talks
about the experience of the patient in addition to my personal feelings about the same. It further
highlights some of the values and beliefs impacted on me by the patient’s experience. The essay
also talks about preventing falls and e-health.
Patient Experience
Mr. Bill experienced a serious fall that caused him severe injuries which have impacted
his life to date. He wrecked his right shoulder and injured his right elbow. In fact, the fall took
off the skin under his right elbow. At the time of the fall, there was nobody around to help him
get out of the gutter, therefore, had to struggle to get himself out. Once he got home, his wife and
the visitors at home wanted to take him to the hospital. He, however, declined because he did not
want to go to a public hospital because of his former experience at a comparable facility. He
instead chose to contact his personal doctor who directed him on the next course of action. After
the diagnosis, he again experienced another fall in the house after feeling dizzy. His GP
diagnoses his situation and finds out he is anemic but the reason for being anemic could not be

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substantiated so he was put on a pill cam. This is a form of e-health medication whose aim is to
monitor Bills internal organs and take photos that may be useful in identifying the source of the
anemia. Other conditions that are also diagnosed include allergic rhinitis, hypertension, and type
2 diabetes.
In my opinion, care in public hospitals should be hastened to improve care outcomes.
This may include the introduction of e-health technologies such as electronic health record,
electronic medical records, and mobile health among others. Additionally, as we are told that Bill
suffered another fall weeks after diagnosis, it could be important to introduce measures that may
help in preventing falls. Technologies such as e-health could be fundamental in preventing long
queues and long waiting hours experienced by patients before being attended to (Blaya, Fraser,
& Holt, 2010). From the case scenario in our study, Mr. Bill refused to seek medication from a
public hospital due to his previous experience at a facility of a similar dimension. It is important
to note that if care at the public hospital was better and faster than it has been reported in this
scenario, then he could not have opted out of going to seek medication and instead wait until
next day to see his personal doctor. I imagine a situation where the injuries got worse leading to
health deterioration. It could have been tragic. Such imaginations are some of the factors that
have influenced my thoughts and feelings owing to the fact that he waited up to the following
day instead of just going to a public hospital and receive urgent care. More patients would opt for
seeking care from public hospitals if the quality of care was improved and patient-centered care
made better (Epstein & Street, 2011).
It is clear from our scenario that a family is one among the foremost vital values anyone
may possess. I am certain that my belief in quality care and the value of a family were a number
of the factors that influenced my thoughts and feelings regarding what transpired. The origin of

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these two values is that sturdy family bonds that people share alongside the goodwill of taking
care of other family members. Having a family around you when you are sick is extremely vital.
This is true because the family is that the most immediate caregiver. Taking the example of Mr.
Bill, his wife drove him to the doctor the following day and for many alternative weeks once he
still couldn't use his arms. This is further proof that the family was crucial to the healing of Bill
in the aftermath of his injury. Additionally, my belief in quality affordable care must have also
impacted my feelings. This is because, from the scenario, we are told that there is some time in
the past when Bill had to wait for eleven hours before receiving appropriate medical attention.
Quality care is thus elementary in any care setting to guarantee positive care outcomes.
It is, however, important to state that the care provided in the presented case scenario had
numerous inadequacies like long waiting hours before seeing a doctor. An example is when Bill
had kidney stones and had to seek treatment from a public hospital. This, however, did not go as
expected because he waited for eleven hours before receiving medical attention. The pain he was
experiencing was too much and he had to take pills after every three to four hours to reduce the
pain. I believe that this is just negligence from the hospital. No individual should be waiting for
eleven hours to get medical attention no matter how busy the facility is. It is thus valid o point
out that, nursing standards and Bill’s rights were violated by this hospital. I can, therefore, agree
with Kusnanto that instant care delivery that follows nursing standards is that the best way to
ensuring quality care and patient satisfaction.
It is also worth noting that other aspects of care as seen from the scenario were quite
adequate. Mr. Bill in the case scenario says that he was satisfied with the services offered by his
personal GP. This proves that the person-centered approach from Bill’s general practitioner was
top notch. He was made a party to every health decision regarding his well-being. He

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additionally sheds some light on the physiotherapists he was sent to and he even claims that he is
one of the best in business. From this scenario, we can ascertain that the quality of care from the
personal GP was high and thus Bill was more satisfied with the health outcomes. According to
Rathert, Wyrwich & Boren (2013), these types of care are quite important in improving patient
outcomes.
I can confidently conclude that some public hospitals do not offer the best healthcare
services. This could be due to the fact that they receive a large number of patients on a daily
basis thus increasing the amount of work. This enormous number of clients in most cases causes
overcrowding in the hospital and this negatively affects the quality of care. The following are
some of the undesirable indicators of the above revelation. Firstly, the waiting hours before a
patient is attended to are always look like in Bill’s case. These extended waiting hours may cause
pain and agony to the patient and their families. Additionally, health deterioration may be
experienced as a result of the extended waiting hours thus lowering the patient’s quality of life.
These two indicators may, therefore, be fundamental in directing future changes in care. This can
be done by prioritizing the interests of the patient. The private facility also had some health
inadequacy in that it failed to address the issue of falling and prevent falls. This was evident
when Bill had another fall weeks after treatment.
However, it is important to note that the care provided in private health facilities is one of
the best in the country. They apply a patient-centered approach and quick service delivery. These
are some of the positive indicators. Patients are normally incorporated in the decision-making
process regarding their well-being using the patient-centered approach (Barry & Edgman-
Levitan, 2012). For example, Bill was always involved in the decision-making involving his
health unlike in his father’s case when the doctor made the decision to amputate his legs without

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properly involving him. According to Manary, Boulding, Staelin & Glickman (2013), private
hospitals also respond to clients swiftly and thus improving the quality of care and health
outcomes. The two positive indicators can be useful in directing future changes in healthcare.
Basing my reasons on the conclusions made above regarding the case scenario, I would
initiate some action plans. One of the action plans would be aimed at dealing with overcrowding
and negligence in the public hospital. One of the biggest problems faced by public health
facilities is the high number of patients they receive daily. Most residents cannot afford the
prices charged in private hospitals and will always opt for the public ones. This can, however, be
improved by increasing the capacity of public hospitals. The families should additionally play a
major role in care because they are the primary caregivers. It could also be necessary to
introduce measures that would help in preventing falls and educating the patients on how to
avoid accidents of similar kinds in the future. It is further believed that using e-health can be
fundamental in improving the standards of care and patient satisfaction. According to Blaya et al.
(2010), e-health technology helps in keeping the medical and health records of the patient in an
electronic form. This makes access to patient information easier thus reducing the length of
waiting hours and eliminating the problem of overcrowding.
Conclusion
Anyone wishing to properly understand patient experience has to practice patient engagement. In
doing this, the caregivers get to come up with the best care plan for the client and also for future
practice that may involve similar scenarios. This additionally helps nurses and doctors to know
the improvements that should be made in different areas. Furthermore, if both the patient and
their families can understand their roles in in care then the quality of care can be massively

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improved. It is thus obvious from the case that a patient-centered approach is the best way to
provide quality care and improve health outcomes.

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References
Ahmed, F., Burt, J., & Roland, M. (2014). Measuring patient experience: concepts and
methods. The Patient-Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, 7(3), 235-241.
Barry, M. J., & Edgman-Levitan, S. (2012). Shared decision making—the pinnacle of patient-
centered care. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(9), 780-781.
Blaya, J. A., Fraser, H. S., & Holt, B. (2010). E-health technologies show promise in developing
countries. Health Affairs, 29(2), 244-251.
Epstein, R. M., & Street, R. L. (2011). The values and value of patient-centered care.
Kusnanto, H. Patient-Centered Care. Review of Primary Care Practice and Education (Kajian
Praktik dan Pendidikan Layanan Primer), 1(2), 52-53.
Manary, M. P., Boulding, W., Staelin, R., & Glickman, S. W. (2013). The patient experience and
health outcomes. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(3), 201-203.
Rathert, C., Wyrwich, M. D., & Boren, S. A. (2013). Patient-centered care and outcomes: a
systematic review of the literature. Medical Care Research and Review, 70(4), 351-379.