The Unique Needs of Patients

The Unique Needs of Patients

Patient care involves high levels of personalized care tailored to meet the unique needs of individual patients. This care takes place in a hospital, clinic, or home. Most health care involves preventative care and treatments for common illnesses; severe diseases are usually treated through medical procedures. Some rare diseases require specialized care or hospitalization.

Health care is the care or improvement of health through the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or recovery of illness, disease, injury, and other bodily and mental disabilities in patients. Health care practitioners deliver patient care in nursing homes and other health care settings. Examples include licensed practical nurses (LPN), certified nursing assistants (CNA), and nurse practitioners, who have advanced training and are employed as primary and specialty care providers. Other health care practitioners specialize in a particular illness or disease area such as infectious disease specialists, ear, nose, throat, and brain specialists, cardiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, and nurses’ aides.

The practice and philosophy of patient care to promote the respect of the individual and promote social as well as economic development. Patients receiving care through the aid of skilled health care staff have greater confidence in themselves and in their ability to manage health care, resulting in higher quality health services. Patients generally expect and deserve respect and dignity at the receiving end of the patient care experience. The importance and role of the patient in the process of receiving health services and the health care delivery process is recognized in the United States legally as a right guaranteed by the American Psychological Association, which declares that “the right of the individual to be respected before the law and to receive favorable treatment regardless of the situation has become the foundation of the American way of life.”

The quality of patient care depends on a variety of factors. These include the extent of technical knowledge and support provided by trained and experienced health care professionals; an understanding of the needs and expectations of the client; the extent of the collaboration between the primary care practitioner and the other health care professionals who work with the patient; and the extent to which the patient’s preferences are considered. It is essential to provide high quality patient care to improve the quality of overall health. In order to promote well-being, health professionals must adopt a coordinated plan of service delivery that takes into account the physical, emotional, and social factors affecting individuals. This planning will help to ensure that the patients receive adequate services, which in turn leads to higher levels of well-being.

Some professional and patient groups have taken the stance that the best way to guarantee well-being is to adopt a human rights based approach. This approach concentrates on the individual’s ability to control decisions pertaining to their own body and health. There are human rights based approaches to patient care that address the specific needs of patients suffering from debilitating conditions such as cancer, AIDS, diabetes and cerebral palsy. The unique characteristics of these approaches make them unique and have the potential to address the complex issues surrounding health care delivery.

One of the major drivers behind adopting a human rights-based patient-centric approach to health care delivery is the concern for patient confidentiality. Although there have been several laws that protect patients’ medical records, there are still numerous problems that occur in the provision of such medical records. For instance, it is often not possible for hospitals to guarantee that confidential information maintained about patients remains confidential between their doctors and other health care workers. As a result, patients can unintentionally divulge confidential information to doctors and other medical staff, thereby violating their medical confidentiality. Consequently, patients’ rights to privacy in this area are being threatened by the unethical actions of other healthcare workers.