Importance of Person and Family Centered Care in Nursing: A Case Study

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NURSING
Name of the Student
Name of University
Author’s note

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The following is based on the thesis that proper family and patient centered care helps to
increase patient’s partnering in the care thereby helping to improve the overall health outcome.
The relevancy of the thesis statement will be discussed in relation to the case study of Jack
Simposn, a 45 years old man who loves music and is physical fitness freak. Alignment of the
importance of person centered care and family centered care plan will be done on the basis of his
12nights hospital stay experience at the age of 40 when he encountered his lower back disc
injury. The main nursing theory of focus will be informed decision making of nursing code of
ethics, framework that will be taken into consideration include Erikson’s 8 stages of
psychological development and National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSHSS)
of Australia in the domain of “partnering with the consumers” from the scenario highlighted in
the case study.
The relevant nursing theory that is applicable in the case study is nursing governance and
the relevant framework that is applicable in this case study is Erikson theory of 8 stages (stage 7:
generativity and stagnation). The nursing governance that is applicable in this case study is value
of informed decision making. As per the excerpts recorded by Jack Simpson, when the doctors
provided him with two different options, surgery and physiotherapy, it is the nurses who helped
Jack to make informed decision making. The assignment nurses informed him that physiotherapy
though prolong process is associated with less side-effects in comparison to surgery for treating
his ruptured disc. One of the positive effects of informed decision making is person-centred care
approach (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2013). Since Jack was fitness freak, opting
for physiotherapy turned out to be effective and choosing surgery might hamper his mental
health and well-being as it might stop him from having a bohemian life like riding motorcycles.
The Erikson 7th stage vouch for generativity and stagnation. This stage promotes positive and

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meaningful contribution for life and society. So abiding by Erikson’s 7th stage help the nurses to
increase patient’s participation in informed decision making (Svetina, 2014).
The patient care experience in one instance in this case scenario is ineffective because
family members of Jack Simpson were not involved while taking choosing the mode of theory
that is physiotherapy or surgery. The case scenario highlighted that when the doctors came to
Jack for giving in two examples in relation to his therapy for slip disc, it is the nurse who
participated in the conversation on behalf of Simpson in order to help him in informed decision
making. Here nurse advocated on behalf of Jack to help him take informed decision. However,
Cole, Wellard and Mummery (2014) highlighted that, nurses cannot directly advocate on behalf
of the patients. It is the duty of the nurse to explain all information in relation to the case study
both to patients and their family member (as per the consent of the patient) and allow them to
take the final decision. Moreover, Kuo et al. (2012) highlighted that involving family promotes
partnering in care and increases the overall therapeutic outcome. Family centred care is described
as a partnership approach in healthcare which promotes the concept of informed decision
making. Involving family member in care plan will help Simpson to feel more secured as he
would feel that during his 12 nights stay in hospital, his family members are not just making
time, visiting hospital and then leaving.
One of the effective patient care experience in this case study is the effective
communication skills execute by the nurses of the private hospitals under which Jack was
enrolled for 12 night following his slip disc. It is Jack who opined that nurses of that private
hospital was successful in connecting dots which are not directly connected or communicated
well by the doctors. The nurses also tried to keep Jack comfortable during his initial 4 to 5 days
in hospital stay when Jack was suffering from extreme pain. According to O'hagan et al. (2014)