Goal-Oriented Patient Care

In this era of advanced medicine that only continues to make strides toward a greater understanding of specific diseases and treatments of those diseases, it is easy to see how doctors might forget the individual patients. The purpose of research is to make advances and the purpose of doctors is to correct health issues, but the purpose of healthcare is to improve patient outcomes and this disease-oriented approach must be changed to fulfill the purpose of healthcare. Focusing on the overall needs of each patient, rather than the parts of their conditions that most interest particular doctors, is the best way to improve the health of the patient in a meaningful way and fulfill the standards of good medical practice (Reuben and Tinetti, 2012, pg. 779). The best way to do this on a patient to patient basis and is to individually determine what that patient’s health priorities are and serve those rather than treating each individual condition that patient is suffering from. Nurses are ideally poised to serve that function and promote patient advocacy.

Nurses serve a natural and integral role in converting healthcare to a patient focus. They are already at the heart of patient care across a wide variety of condition and are able to fill the gaps between specialists that might cause a patient to be neglected in critical ways. Because specialists are so focused on singular aspects of a patient’s condition, if there are multiple diseases or contributing factors present, the burden inevitably falls on primary care services (Starfield, 2011, pg. 2). Doctors, whether specialists or general practice, are simply too outnumbered by patients to become that intimately familiar with every patient they tend to, but nurses serve in a more personal capacity already. They are also receiving more training and education than ever before. As nurses become more qualified to carry out procedures and provide direct care they become better able to keep track of a patient’s condition and health goals which ultimately results in better healthcare.

References

Reuben, D. B., & Tinetti, M. E. (2012). Goal-oriented patient care -- An alternative health outcomes paradigm. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(9), 777-779. Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://www.familycarenetwork.com/sites/default/files/REUBEN%20GOAL%20ORIENTED%20CARE.pdf 

Starfield, B. (2011). The hidden inequity in health care. International Journal for Equity in Health, 10(15), 1-3. Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1475-9276-10-15.pdf