A nursing case study is a great way to practice patient centered care. By examining a nursing scenario, you can learn about patient assessment, communication and medication adherence.

The method of case study analysis is effective for imparting professional knowledge and skills in undergraduate nursing education and results in deeper level of learning. It broadens students perspectives, enhances their cooperation capacity and improves their judgment and critical thinking.

1. Patient Assessment

Patient assessment skills are a critical component of nursing practice. They help you to gather information and analyze the problem before forming a solution.

A good patient assessment is free of bias and examiner preconceptions, allowing you to see each case for what it really is and avoid making assumptions or drawing to conclusions that aren’t valid.

A thorough assessment is important for many reasons, including improving time to treatment and transporting patients directly to specialized facilities. For example, a quick assessment can help to catch an early stroke and improve outcomes. Similarly, it can ensure that patients are transferred to a hospital in the best condition possible.

2. Patient Communication

Communication is the exchange of information that involves body language, facial expressions, and eye contact. It also includes prevention, diagnosis, and treatment discussions with family, friends, and health advocates.

Patients may have a different understanding of health concepts than the nurse, and it is important to ensure that the patient understands the information being relayed. This can be done by providing basic health terms, and explaining complex medical terminology in an easy-to-understand way.

In addition, nurses should ask their patients what they need to know and take time to answer questions. This will help the patient feel confident in what they are being told, and it can encourage them to share additional information.

Patient communication is an essential component of patient-centered care, and research suggests that good communication can have positive effects on patient outcomes. For example, patients who receive effective communication from their physicians are more satisfied with their treatment and experience fewer adverse events.

3. Patient Education

As part of a nursing case study, you may want to include some patient education as a teaching point. This will allow students to learn the art of communication and how to make the most of their interactions with patients to deliver high-quality care.

There are several ways to integrate patient education into your curriculum. You could have a discussion board, assign reading assignments to students, or create a PowerPoint presentation.

You can even ask students to answer a series of questions about their experience. This will provide valuable feedback and help you improve your course.

4. Medication Adherence

Medication adherence is important for patients, as it can prevent a wide range of health problems. However, it is also a complex process and requires a multi-dimensional approach to understanding the reasons behind non-adherence.

Medication adherence has been defined as the extent to which a patient’s behavior agrees with their prescribed medication regimen. It has been shown that poor medication adherence can result in increased morbidity and mortality, higher health care costs and wastage.

Adherence is affected by a number of factors, including social and economic factors, therapy-related factors, disease-related factors and healthcare system-related factors. These determinants vary from situation to situation and can impact adherence in different ways depending on their importance to the patient and their influence on treatment efficacy.

The selection of a medication adherence measure should be made with a holistic view of each situation’s unique objectives, resources and needs. The measures should be able to capture the levels and phases of interest (initiation, implementation, persistence and discontinuation). They should also provide data that can help inform the development of appropriate interventions to improve adherence.