Listening to patients' voices: Applying the design-thinking method for teaching person-centered care to nursing students

Background: Providing a person-centered care (PCC) education program to nursing students is necessary. This study aims to determine the impact of a design-thinking based education program on how nursing students perceive PCC. Methods: Five 2-h lessons were offered to 105 fourth-year nursing students in South Korea. Each randomly assigned group of eight or nine students was instructed to develop a plan to address the problems/dissatisfaction experienced by patients during hospitalization. The Individualized Care Scale-nurse's version was used to measure student's perception of PCC before and after the education program. Results: After the program the students exhibited significant improvements in how they viewed supporting patient individuality, with that score increasing by 0.44 (from 3.64 to 4.08; p < 0.0001), and maintaining patient individuality while providing care, with that score increasing by 0.34 (from 3.71 to 4.05; p < 0.0001). Among subdomains, the most notable change was in how the students viewed the personal life situation of patients, and its impact on patients' healthcare outcomes. Conclusion: This education program, based on the design-thinking approach, was effective in improving the perceptions of nursing students about PCC. Expanding such PCC education programs for nursing school students should therefore be considered.