Question

Please answer the following topic in 300 words.

How might a patients’ perception of care impact his or her healthcare outcomes? What are at least two ways a healthcare provider can ensure a positive patient/provider relationship?

Answer 1

Human understanding is based on how he/she perceives things or situations. Perception is defined as how a person notices and interpretates things. How a person draws an interpretation or result out of a situation, person or surrounding is called perception. Perception is important as it affects his attitudes and behaviours. A person’s actions are based upon how they perceive.

Care is a very important part of nursing interventions. Each and every action carried out by healthcare professionals revolves around the plan of care.

A nurse’s actions will decide how a patient perceives care. This perception can be influenced by assimptions, values, goals, expectations, past experiences and mental state of patient. Perceptions may create either positive or negative atittude and behaviour towards care. A perception based on deficit knowledge will bring out negative behaviours. A positive atittude will help bring out positive outcomes resulting in early recovery of patient from illness, healthy environment, stonger mental state and shorter hospital stays.

A negative atittude leads to ill or poor outcomes resulting in difficulty to treat illness, resistance from patient, prolonged illness, weak mental and physical status and long hospital stays.

A nurse’s actions and the way of presentation influences the perception of patient. So a nurse should always be carefull in what she does or speak. Two ways to improve patient/provider relationship are :

1. Always make the patient feel that he is a valuable asset to the hospital : healthcare team should make patient believe that he is valuable and holds importance in the hospital environment. Carefully listen and take care of what the patients needs are and try to provide him with the best of what you can. Mske the patient aware about the fact that he is the center of plan of care.

2. Have a healthy, accurate and friendly conversations with patient. This will make the patient comfortable. It will also help patient to share his problems and needs easily with you.