Educating patients about their conditions is crucial to their recovery.
Educating patients about their conditions and treatment helps patients accept and participate in their care. Establishing open communication with patients and making sure they understand what forms of treatment they're receiving, and possible complications or side effects, will help them alert medical staff if something goes wrong. They also need to know about procedures or regimens they may need to do at home and follow-up testing that may be needed to ensure their recovery. Involving family members in these discussions prepares them to help patients stay on track.
Preparation
Make sure you have all the teaching tools you'll need organized and at hand, advises surgical nurse Sharon Hohler in an article in the July 2004 issue of the journal Nursing. These could include handouts, videos and fact sheets, which are particularly helpful in teaching patients who have long-term conditions such as diabetes that they may have to deal with on their own, Hohler says.
Hohler also advises nurses to keep the language and images in any written material simple because adults who aren't avid readers tend to "read two grade levels below the grade they completed in school."
Skills Acquisition
Choose the right setting in which to teach patients new procedures that they'll soon have to do themselves at home, such as insulin injections, Hohler says. Introduce yourself, shake hands and find a quiet, private, well-lit place with comfortable chairs. When interacting with patients, sit at eye level with them to make them feel comfortable.
Timing
Look for "teachable moments," Hohler says. It's best not to try to educate patients when they're tired, in pain or distracted. When patients are curious and ask questions, such as why they need to take a particular medication or submit to or perform a certain procedure, that's the time to provide substantial information on the topic. For example, when discussing a medication, explain why it was prescribed, dosages, how it works, possible side effects and whether lab work will have to be done to ensure the medication is safe and effective.
Gauging Comprehension
Confirm how much your patients understand and have learned by asking them open-ended questions or getting them to repeat what you've told them. When teaching them do something, have them go through the procedures you demonstrated to them. Repeat key concepts several times to reinforce learning and to convey additional information in small, easy-to-absorb increments, Hohler says.
What to Leave Out
When you're deciding what to discuss with the patient, stick to the essentials--the "need to know" rather than the "nice to know," Jodi Eisenberg is quoted as saying in a Feb. 3, 2010, article on the Health Leaders Media website. Eisenberg is program manager of accreditation and clinical compliance at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Family Participation
Involve family members in the teaching process, Eisenberg advises. They may be responsible for helping patients make sure that they take their medications or perform procedures at home on schedule and correctly. And they can remind patients about and reinforce the messages you've taught them.
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