Is Primary Nursing Care Or Relationship-Based Care Coming Back?
Primary nursing or Relationship-Based Care is a method of nursing practice which emphasizes continuity of care by having one nurse (often teamed with a nursing assistant) provide complete care for a small group of inpatients within a nursing unit of a hospital. The “primary nurse” is responsible for coordinating all aspects of care for the same group of patients throughout their stay in a given area. Thus, primary care nursing is an aspect of the nursing profession which focuses on providing primary care to patients.
Primary care acts as a patient’s first point of contact with the medical system: when a patient arrives in a doctor’s office seeking a physical, attention for a sore throat, or other forms of medical assistance, he or she is interacting with a primary care provider. Primary care nurses can diagnose, treat, and manage a number of conditions independently or in consultation with a doctor, and they can also provide referrals to other medical practitioners if a problem is outside their scope of care. If that sore throat, for example, is caused by a cancer in the trachea, the patient would be referred to an oncologist.
Here in Northern California, (as LVN schools in California are aware) most acute hospitals adapt this nursing model to have more effective and efficient patient care. We are mandated by law that one nurse should have no more than 5 patients to care for. To meet this law and to save money at the same time most acute hospitals that adapt this model hire nurses that have good time management skills, are good at multi-tasking and competent with nursing skills in order to provide direct patient care effectively and efficiently. Most nurses who provide primary care nursing to their patients are happy about where they work and have adapted to this working model of nursing care. They claim that their patients get more personal care and thus the nurses feel appreciated and get more satisfaction from their work. These nurses don’t rely on their nursing assistants or care partners to take care of their patients or do patient care. These nurses feel they know their patients well and can provide better patient care. Nurses also feel that their patients are happier and have faster recovery as they know their nurse well and have better continuity of care. These hospitals also have higher customer satisfaction rate as stated by most surveys.
President Obama comes from Hawaii, a state that uses the primary nursing care model. There are some predictions that primary nursing will emerge as part of the medical reform that congress and lobbyists are pushing to pass as a law to create the ideal nursing setting. Earning LVN certification by becoming an LVN in California is a good first step to learning the health care system, moving on to an RN program and becoming a primary nurse.
