Person Centred Practice Essay

Evaluating person-centred practice

It has been recognised that while there is a lot of emphasis onproviding care that is person-centred, translating the core concepts into professional practice is challenging, with few research studies reported that evaluate the caring outcomes that may arise from PCN (McCormack & McCance 2006). This has been further compounded by the lack of valid instruments within the literature that go some way to measuring elements of person-centred practice (Traynor & Wade 1993, Adams et al. 1995, Coyle & Williams 2001). The measurement of caring, however, has faired somewhat differently, with a proliferation of instruments reported in the literature that aim to measure caring in nursing. The Caring Dimensions Inventory

Figure 2 presents the PCN framework, with these 12 core statements mapped onto the relevant constructs. All the core statements (items from the CDI) fall within either prerequisites or care processes and are bulleted under specific components within each of these two constructs. Mapping the core statements onto the PCN framework reaffirms the strong correlation between caring and PCN as perceived by nurses. It is interesting to note that in relation to personcentred processes, the statements that remained consistent over time spanned across the five components presented in the PCN framework, with none emerging stronger than any others. This would appear to reinforce the validity of the range of person-centred processes presented within the PCN framework. The main focus, however, relating to prerequisites was on professional competence and developed interpersonal skills. This emphasises the need for good communication skills and their centrality in developing therapeutic relationships. This notion is reinforced through a concept analysis undertaken by Chambers (2005) who identified communication as an antecedent to the development of therapeutic