Patient–Centered Care—At First Contact Nurses and patient-centered care (PCC) go hand-in-hand. Nurses enjoy taking care of patients in a holistic, personalized, relationship-based way that honors the patients’ preferences, needs, and values. In its landmark book, Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001, p. 40), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) defined patient-centered care as “…providing care that is respectful and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values —ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.” This is the last week in which we are reviewing health assessment techniques. We end by covering cognitive assessments and musculoskeletal and neurological examinations. The purpose of this discussion is for you to reflect on your relationships with your patients and to identify ways that you can strengthen your PCC approaches beyond health interviews and assessments. As you move forward in the program, you will learn more about encouraging patients to be engaged at every level of care design and implementation within the health care system. After all, PCC is connected to improved quality and patient outcomes, and you will learn more about that too! To Prepare • Review the Week 5 Discussion Rubric provided in the Course Information area or accessible through the link below. • Review Chapters 5, 22, and 23 in the course text. • Choose two of the six dimensions of patient-centered care (PCC), listed below, on which to focus for this Discussion. • Think about how you might implement the two dimensions you selected into your health interview and assessment process in order to improve quality in patient collaboration and outcomes. 1. Respect for patients’ values, preferences, and expressed needs 2. Coordination and integration of care through collaboration and teamwork 3. Accessibility and free flow of information, communication, and education 4. Physical comfort 5. Sensitivity to non-medical and the spiritual dimension of care (emotional support) 6. Involvement of family and friends