'Knowing the patient': a review of research on an emerging concept

Abstract

Knowing the patient is an important concept emerging from recent studies of nursing practice. The concept is relevant to therapeutic decision-making. Also, knowing the patient actualizes a cherished value in nursing: the treatment of persons as unique individuals. Investigators described that knowing the patient comprises two components: the nurse's understanding of the patient and the selection of individualized interventions. In addition, the nurse's experience with caring for patients, chronological time and a sense of closeness between the patient and nurse, are three factors consistently related to knowing the patient. The concept has implications for practice, including that knowing the patient may result in positive patient outcomes. Also, expert nurse decision-making may be characterized by knowing the patient. Recommendations for further research in this area include the clarification and refinement of the concept, as well as the examination of relationships between knowing the patient and outcomes of care.

Knowing the patient: A qualitative study on care-taking and the clinical pharmacist-patient relationship

“…[29][30][31] This study suggests that CP/ CPSs "know" and care for patients in a way that is distinct from nursing. For example, in disease-state management, CPs/CPSs see the same patients over and over again in ACC but also in diabetes clinics and hypertension clinics, among many others.…”

“…This study identified that long-term relationships help CPs/CPSs know the patient as a person and that this knowing leads pharmacists to make individualistic, personalized interventions. 29,30 This is especially apparent in the strategy categorized as identifying a patient's unmet needs (e.g., when patients ask directly for help), or there is an indirect expression of need (e.g., the loss of cognitive function identified by the CP/ CPS). 31 The team also identified that the time and familiarity that develops over the course of anticoagulation care creates a reciprocal relationship in which patients come to know their pharmacists.…”

Support Groups Facilitated by Families of Former Patients: Creating Family-Inclusive Critical Care Units

“…Staff develop a better understanding of the needs of both patients and patients' families and achieve what Radwin 23 and others 24,25 describe as "knowing your patient" (in our program, knowing patients and patients' families). This knowing has important implications for care delivery outcomes; the extent of knowing may contribute to the level of individualized care and the choice of how care is delivered.…”

The nursing expert in clinical practice

“…Knowing the patient is a key concept within therapeutic decision making (Radwin, 1996), as with the ability to understand and treat the patient as an individual (O'Callaghan, 1995). This involves not only finding out the patient's perception and response to their situation, but the integration of knowledge surrounding specific treatments (Radwin, 1996).…”

“…This involves not only finding out the patient's perception and response to their situation, but the integration of knowledge surrounding specific treatments (Radwin, 1996). This reflective episode relates more to the clinical relationship and rapport with J, as opposed to knowing the patient as described by Jenny and Logan (1992), where time is considered to be essential in order to accumulate sufficient knowledge regarding the patient's current condition and concerns.…”