Positive Effects of Patient Care

The most positive effect of patient care is getting well and maintaining good health. Many things contribute to patient care that affect a patient's medical outcome and overall sense of well-being. Research studies that influence how doctors treat patients and how nurses involve the patient's family members in the care of a patient may produce positive effects as well as intercessory prayer.

Nursing Research

• Patricia Grady, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research, reports that nursing research establishes evidence-based practice in nursing to improve patient care. Research studies cover the management of patients during illness/recovery and determine the reduction of risks for disease and disability. Patient care also benefits from nursing research that promotes healthy lifestyles, improves the quality of life for chronic illness patients, and care for people who have terminal illnesses.

Patient-centered Care

• Patient-centered care involves doctors asking their patients about how they feel about being ill, for their thoughts about what is wrong with them, how their illness affects their day-to-day functioning and the patients expectations concerning treatment. There is more of an emphasis on the doctor and patient working together and enhancing the patient-doctor relationship. The University of Western Ontario, Canada conducted a research study that found that patient-centered practice not only improved patient's health status, but also increased the care efficiency which reduced diagnostic tests and referrals.

Family-centered Care in Adult Critcal Care

• Family-centered care emphasizes the values of collaboration, respect and support and addresses both the patient and the patient's family as the unit of care. Working together with patients' family members in terms of patient care significantly improved the collaboration, support, and respect between nurses and patient's and their families, according to a November 2009 research article in the American Journal of Critical Care.

Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer

• A study was conducted at the San Francisco Medical Center and the Department of Medicine, University of California in 1982 and 1983 to determine if people praying for cardiac patients made a difference for the patients and their medical outcomes. Analysis of the study indicated patients who had prayer directed towards them experienced less congestive heart failure, less cases of pneumonia, required less diuretic and antibiotic therapy, experienced fewer cardiac arrests, and needed less intubation/ventilation intervention.