Person-Centred Practice in the field of intensive care nursing

• Duration: 2022-2024
• Dissertant: Theresa Clement, BSc, MSc
• Supervisor: Univ. Prof. Dr. Hanna Mayer

Background: A steadily increasing trend in the health policy landscape, which is generally referred to as the "humanisation of health care", focuses on the topic of person-centredness. Person-centred developments in the health sector are proving beneficial at the individual, institutional and systemic levels, accompanied by improved quality and safety standards and higher satisfaction with nursing care among patients, as well as well-being and job satisfaction among staff. Despite the increasing interest in person-centred practice, which is reflected both at international and national level, the significance of person-centredness as such for the practice field of intensive care nursing has not yet been defined. There is a lack of structuring of research results and action approaches of person-centred processes, which leads to an insufficient understanding of the complexity of developing a person-centred practice taking into account the contextual circumstances.

Aim: Thematically, this dissertation project will focus on identifying the meaning and design of person-centred practice in the setting of intensive care nursing. By identifying and operationalising fundamental principles and indicators, the Person-Centred Practice Framework (McCormack, McCance 2017) will be adapted and extended to map the theoretical framework of person-centred practice as applied in the context of intensive care nursing. This will provide a theoretical basis to offer healthcare professionals, teams and organisations clarity and guidance on establishing and evaluating person-centred practice.