What's Happening in Canada? - Answers Ageing population
Increased life expectancy
1 in 3 Canadian adults living with at least one major chronic disease
Chronic diseases account for 70% of all deaths
What Do Patients Say? - Answers On medical and surgical wards, patients have expressed
unmet nursing care needs related to:
Communication
Self-management, autonomy, education, Fundamental physical care, Emotional and
psychological care, Personal sphere
Why Should We Address the Whole Person? - Answers To maintain our patients' dignity - dignity
is associated with quality of life
What is Dignity? - Answers Inherent to all of us
Highly individualized
Common elements:
Feeling valued and important - self-worth; State of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual
comfort
What Impacts Dignity? - Answers Nature and quality of interaction with others
Illness-related concerns
Personal perspectives and practices to conserve dignity
,Getting to Know the Whole Person - Answers Formal assessment tools
Observation - person, interactions, environment
Conversation - with patient, family, healthcare team
Ask open-ended questions, Talk about things other than illness, Biographical approaches,
Storytelling and story sharing
Unhelpful Assessment Techniques - Answers Focusing on only one domain
Using inappropriate or technical language
Changing the subject or interrupting
Jumping to conclusions
Asking leading questions that suggest right answers
Assessing Physical Domain - Answers Understand diagnosis and treatments
Head-to-toe assessment
Symptom assessment
Assessing Emotional Drain - Answers Anxiety/fear, Sadness, Anger/irritability, Positive
motivation, Burden, Disengagement/withdrawal, Coping
Assessing Social Domain - Answers Relationships, Ability to engage in leisure activities, Ability
to perform household chores, Ability to perform ADLs, Living accommodations, Ability to work
Caregiving role
, Assessing Spiritual Domain - Answers Sources of help or support, Beliefs and spirituality,
Source of hope, Meaning in life
Personhood - Answers Respect that each patient is an individual person - personhood!
When we ignore expressions of personhood, dignity can be compromised
When we promote expressions of personhood, dignity can be upheld
Factors that Influence Illness Experience - Answers Disease-focused vs. whole-person approach
to care, Available health services, Education and literacy, Physical environment, Social support
networks, Personal health practices and coping skills, Social environments, Culture,
Employment/working conditions, Financial and social status, Age
Caring Is... - Answers "A relational process that involves the nurse's intentional extension of the
self to another to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual comfort and support in response to
the human aspect of the health and illness experience."
Taking Care Of vs. Caring For - Answers Taking Care Of = "emphasizes objective, professional
care, such as the medical and psychological aspects of nursing."
Caring For = "a humanistic way of interacting with patients that demonstrates sincere care and
concern for patients simply because they are human beings."
Why Should I Care About Caring? - Answers Nurse:
Increases job satisfaction; Reduces burnout
Patient/Family: Upholds human dignity; Promotes a sense of well-being; Enhances disclosure;
Increases satisfaction with care
Caring Nurses vs Uncaring Nurses - Answers Caring Nurses...
Listened carefully to patients and responded to their individual, unique situations; Were
perceptive about and supportive of patients' stated and unstated concerns; Made patients feel
valued as human beings; Made direct patient eye contact and disclosed personal information;
Returned to patients voluntarily