Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Focusing on feedback: how nurse practitioners can use focus group interviews to build a patient-centered practice
Rachel A Pozzar1, Nancy A Allen, Kelly D Stamp
1(Nurse Practitioner), Addison Gilbert Primary Care, Gloucester, Massachusetts, (Assistant Professor), William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Purpose:
The success or failure of clinical interventions often rests upon the degree of insight nurse practitioners (NPs) have into their patients' preferences for receiving their care. Therefore, NPs have a vested interest in understanding the perspective of their patients, which can be derived by conducting practice-specific focus groups. This article offers NPs practice guidelines for conducting focus groups to improve practice and quality and making practice-related decisions.
Data Sources:
An extensive review of the scholarly databases and scientific literature.
Conclusions:
Focus groups can generate valuable data for NPs in clinical practice settings. Currently, focus groups are rarely used for this purpose; however, data gathered from the population served could be invaluable for improving practice, quality, and decisions made regarding the types of services that NPs provide for their patients.
Implications For Practice:
The benefits of an NP clinician conducting focus groups are that they provide a forum for listening to the people they serve and learning from them. The knowledge gained from patients allows the NP to tailor their interventions and care to meet the patient's needs, and may be required to make the practice thrive.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...
Patient-centered Care
Methods of Documentation IV: Focus Charting
It typically involves three columns for recording information:
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Fundamentals of Nursing Process II
Role of Communication in the Nursing Process II: Planning and Implementation

