1. Jessica Hubert
Dr. Douglass
NUR 4230
Exemplar PLO 1, 9
30, January 2017
Patient-centered care is compassionate care focused on the patient’s immediate needs
while providing comfort, educating, and anticipating changes in the plan of care. To me, patient-
centered care is how I competently provide safe, appropriate care to patients assigned to me and
keeping the patient’s preferences and values at the forefront. Respecting the cultural and spiritual
values of the patient is the primary way I can provide the best care for them that initiates the
healing process. As a follower of Christ, it is my responsibility to do my personal best in serving
those around me out of love.
I demonstrated patient-centered care in the clinical setting as I cared for an elderly patient
with multiple comorbidities, one of those being anxiety, as she was admitted to the floor for a
femur fracture. Her provider could not schedule her surgery right away to repair her femur
because of the anticoagulant she was taking to treat an existing cardiac issue. Her anxiety, along
with her family’s, only escalated in the time they had to wait before surgery could be performed
to decrease her risk of bleeding. This patient needed to be educated on the reasons behind her
delayed surgery and required specific care in the meantime. I, along with the staff nurse, faced
challenges while caring for this patient as we administered her medications and collaborated with
respiratory to give her nebulizer treatment. Her anxiety significantly increased her heart rate and
rhythm into atrial fibrillation at this time to the point where she had to take one pill at a time and

2. put her nebulizer treatment back on between pills. The staff nurse and I had to reevaluate at what
times we could compile certain tasks with this patient to minimize the time we spent in her room
to maximize the time she could rest. We had to be very patient with her and mindful of her level
of pain from her fracture as we continued to care for her.
I demonstrated patient-centered care with this patient specifically by educating her on
why she had to wait for surgery and why waiting to decrease her risk of bleeding is so important
to her outcome. Patient-centered care was also demonstrated by patiently administering her
medications during her nebulizer treatment and monitoring her heart rate during that time, and
managing her pain as best as possible. In the future I would like to spend more time with patients
in similar conditions working to improve their comfort as much as possible and to help decrease
anxiety that builds during hospitalizations.