problem-solving approach to patient-centered care, (in nursing) a conceptual framework that incorporates the overt physical needs of a patient with covert psychological, emotional, and social needs. It provides a model for caring for the whole person as an individual, not as an example of a disease or a medical diagnosis. Nursing is defined within this model as a problem-solving process. The patient is viewed as a person who is in an impaired state, less than usually able to perform self-care activities. Nursing problems are conditions experienced by the patient or the patient’s family for which the nurse may provide professional service. The nurse makes a nursing diagnosis that identifies the impaired state and determines the care needed to augment the patient’s ability to perform self-care. The requirements for care are classified in four levels: care given to sustain life is sustenal care; care given to assist the patient in self-care is remedial care; care that helps the patient develop new skills and goals in self-care is restorative care; and care given to guide the patient to a level of self-help beyond the normal level is preventive care. The approach identifies 21 nursing problems and sorts them into four groups: problems relating to comfort, hygiene, and safety; physiological balance; psychological and social factors; and sociological and community factors. See also nursing care plan.
