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Summary
This is the fifth article in a nine-part series describing the Principles of Nursing Practice developed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in collaboration with patient and service organisations, the Department of Health, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This article discusses Principle D, the provision of person-centred care.
Keywords
Nurse-patient relations, person-centred care, Principles of Nursing Practice
These keywords are based on subject headings from the British Nursing Index. For author and research article guidelines visit the Nursing Standard home page at www.nursing-standard.co.uk. For related articles visit our online archive and search using the keywords.
THE FOURTH Principle of Nursing Practice, Principle D, reads:
'Nurses and nursing staff provide and promote care that puts people at the centre, involves patients, service users, their families and their carers in decisions, and helps them make informed choices about their treatment and care.'
The provision of care that is experienced as right by the person receiving it is at the core of nursing practice. Principle D sets out to endorse and expand on this point, which is often summarised as providing person-centred care - a philosophy that centres care on the person and not only their healthcare needs. The King's Fund uses the term 'the person in the patient' to convey the same point (Goodrich and Cornwall 2008).
There is a consensus that person-centred care equates with quality care (Innes et al 2006, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) 2009), although the service users involved in developing the Principles indicated that they wanted to receive person-centred, and safe and effective care. Such inter-related care is based on best evidence, which is blended with the needs of the individual within specific contexts.
Healthcare teams, healthcare provider organisations and governments often articulate an intention to deliver person-centred care. However, achieving it is often challenging and difficult to sustain. Achieving person-centred care consistently requires specific knowledge, skills and ways of working, a shared philosophy that is practised by the nursing team, an effective workplace culture and organisational support.
While all members of the nursing team endeavour to provide person-centred care, some nurses have more transient contacts with patients and those important to them. Examples include staff working in operating departments, general practice or outpatients....