Patient Care Management

This section of the text deals with issues of importance in the management of patient care and will assist you to gain competence in the frontline management of patient care. While you have had experience in dealing with the care planning and delivery for one or more individual patients, the experience of managing the care delivered by other members of the health care team is the culmination of your initial nursing education. Patient care management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and improving all of the activities centered on the delivery of care to a group of patients.

You will not be expected to manage an entire patient unit on graduation but will be in charge of the delivery of care to a group of patients. As you mature in your professional role, you may be asked to take a management role within your institution. You first need to become comfortable with the practice of management of patient care for a group of patients, and then move toward unit management of care. Numerous processes and governance structures will assist you to achieve positive patient outcomes.

The process of patient care management includes skills such as delegation, patient assignment, coordination, collaboration, communication, and outcome monitoring. This process occurs in an interdisciplinary work environment, and skill in working in such environments is necessary. The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) (2006) delineated five areas of competency for the nurse manager: communication and relationship building, knowledge of the health care environment, leadership, professionalism, and business skills. The emphasis on particular competencies will differ depending on the position in the organization. There are skills necessary for managing the business of health care:

Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel

Join