Patient-centered Care: Teaching Psychosocial Skills to New Nurses

Abstract

<p>Although the adoption of patient-centered care is increasingly more frequent in healthcare organizations and well supported in nursing, interdisciplinary educational strategies in the acute care setting to support patient-centered care training for caregivers of patients with both medical and behavioral health problems are noticeably lacking (Kitson et al., 2013). This disparity is particularly worrisome in the acute care setting, given the prevalence of comorbid behavioral health problems in the medical inpatient population (Sledge et al., 2015). In an effort to address this gap, our RN Residency Program developed an 8 hour education curriculum, Psychosocial Foundations, aimed at providing resident and fellowship nurses with foundational skills in patient-centered care. Modeled on the Office of Veterans Health Education and Information&rsquo;s TEACH program, and utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to curriculum design, Psychosocial Foundations draws upon the expertise of nursing, social work, and medicine to deliver introductory training on best practices in patient-centered care for patients with complex psychosocial issues. Core components of Psychosocial Foundations include training in Motivational Interviewing, care of patients with psychiatric and/or substance abuse disorders, introduction to case management, and a series of experiential and skills based practice stations. This presentation discusses both the interdisciplinary approach to development and implementation of a foundational training curriculum in patient-centered care for nurses within a residency program, highlighting lessons learned.</p>