Patients first! Engaging the hearts and minds of nurses with a patient-centered practice model

Like every healthcare system today, the Cleveland Clinic health system is a combination of medical hospitals, institutes, and services in which the implementation of uniform care methodologies faces significant barriers. The guiding principle of the Cleveland Clinic, 'Patients First,' focuses on the principle of patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) but deliberately lacks details due to the wide scope of care delivered by the organization. The Stanley Shalom Zielony Institute of Nursing Excellence (the Nursing Institute) at the Cleveland Clinic was charged with standardizing nursing practice across a system with 11,000 registered nurses and 800 advanced practice nurses. The challenge involved providing firm direction on delivering PFCC that was appropriate for all clinical disciplines and could be implemented quickly across existing practices and technologies. Successful implementation required full engagement in the concept of PFCC by what the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has termed the 'hearts and minds' of nurses. To achieve these ends, development of a systemwide nursing practice model was initiated. In this article the authors identify the essence of PFCC, consider barriers to PFCC, review their process of developing PFCC, and describe how the Cleveland Clinic health system has implemented a PFCC nursing practice model. In doing so the authors explore how the concept of 'Passion for Nursing' was used to stimulate nurse engagement in PFCC.