On the Horizon: Take the patient education challenge
Barbara Ann Gattullo APRN-BC, CDE
Diane McDevitt ANP, CNS-BC

$3.95 		Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!
June 2013 
Volume 11  Number 3
Pages 8 - 11
 
  PDF Version Available!

ABSTRACT
As our world population grows and moves, we're caring for a much less homogeneous patient population than in the past. Our patients are now from other countries and cultures, and speak other languages. Their underlying beliefs about health, illness, and healthcare aren't always the same as ours. So, as nurses, we ask, how do we provide patient education when our basic understanding may not be the same?Most nurses recognize the importance of patient education, but are frustrated by the lack of time and resources to support it. We know that the limited time we have with patients can restore health to some degree, but the patient and family are ultimately responsible for continuing the gains and maintaining health through self-care.Socioeconomic pressures also pose challenges. Some of our patients may have grown up in poverty; others may simply be new to patient education. Some may not have had access to medical care or medications and may be living without electricity or running water. Some patients can't read at all, others can't read well, and still others don't have any background in science to help them understand what we're saying.Nurses are realizing the impact of poor health literacy on patient outcomes. But how do we change our expectations to meet all of our patients' needs? We often respond to the pressures placed on us by hospital administration, patients and families, and our peers by saying that we have "no time to teach," and then we ask "How can I get more time to teach?" In light of a tough economy and its impact on healthcare delivery, the response is frustrating: "no money, no staff, no time."However, we must change the question to "How can I most effectively and efficiently teach in the time I do have?" By asking this question, we open up a world of options and can invest in resources to improve health outcomes. Investigate your personal teaching challenges, decide what frustrates you most, and discover how to best teach your patients by utilizing evidence-based

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