Which tool can be used to determine the urgency of patient needs?

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is an effective tool for determining the urgency of patient needs because it categorizes needs into a hierarchy, from the most basic physiological needs to higher-level psychological needs and self-actualization. In a healthcare context, this framework helps prioritize patient care by identifying which needs must be addressed first for optimal health and well-being.

For example, if a patient has unmet physiological needs, such as lack of oxygen or untreated pain, addressing these needs takes precedence over more psychologically oriented needs. Using Maslow’s model allows healthcare providers to understand the essential order of needs, guiding them in making clinical decisions about where to focus their interventions for the greatest impact on the patient’s health.

While other tools, such as SWOT Analysis, Pareto Chart, and Flowchart, serve important roles in different contexts—like assessing strengths and weaknesses, analyzing data for process improvements, or mapping out steps in a process—they do not specifically address the classification and urgency of patient needs in the same prioritized manner as Maslow’s Hierarchy does.