Listening to patients' voices: Applying the design‐thinking method for teaching person‐centered care to nursing students

Abstract

Background: Providing a person-centered care (PCC) education program to nursing students is necessary. This study aims to determine the impact of a design-thinking based education program on how nursing students perceive PCC.Methods: Five 2-h lessons were offered to 105 fourth-year nursing students in South Korea. Each randomly assigned group of eight or nine students was instructed to develop a plan to address the problems/dissatisfaction experienced by patients during hospitalization. The Individualized Care Scale-nurse's version was used to measure student's perception of PCC before and after the education program.Results: After the program the students exhibited significant improvements in how they viewed supporting patient individuality, with that score increasing by 0.44 (from 3.64 to 4.08; p < 0.0001), and maintaining patient individuality while providing care, with that score increasing by 0.34 (from 3.71 to 4.05; p < 0.0001). Among subdomains, the most notable change was in how the students viewed the personal life situation of patients, and its impact on patients' healthcare outcomes. Conclusion:This education program, based on the design-thinking approach, was effective in improving the perceptions of nursing students about PCC. Expanding such PCC education programs for nursing school students should therefore be considered.

Effects of a Comprehensive Person-Centered Care Education Program for Nursing Students

“…We could not compare our results directly with those in the literature since the study that applied flipped and simulated learning to enhance nursing students’ understanding of PCC [ 11 ]. However, it is consistent with the study that showed individualized care improved after an education program based on a design-thinking approach in nursing students [ 8 ]. In our study, there are several reasons why the comprehensive PCC education program was effective.…”

“…Nursing students become partially involved in patient care during their clinical practicum [ 8 ]; therefore, it is imperative that PCC competence is cultivated through effective education programs so that nursing students who will be prospective nurses can provide quality patient care. Existing studies on nursing students conducted abroad have focused on PCC learning experiences for a semester [ 9 ] and introduction to teaching approaches [ 10 , 11 ]; studies developing PCC education programs are scarce.…”

“…Existing studies on nursing students conducted abroad have focused on PCC learning experiences for a semester [ 9 ] and introduction to teaching approaches [ 10 , 11 ]; studies developing PCC education programs are scarce. In Korea, one study showed that a PCC education program based on a design-thinking approach improved the perceptions of individualized care [ 8 ], but most of the published studies investigated the predictors of PCC competence in nursing students [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Although not PCC education programs for nursing students, a prior study implemented a person-centered dementia education program with nursing care providers in long-term care facilities [ 15 ], while another applied a PCC education program among clinical nurses [ 16 ].…”