Improving Patient Education in Southampton Hospital

Patient education is an essential part of our job as nurses and nurse educators. Whether teaching a patient about a new medication or about a chronic disease, the success of the person is greatly influenced by how well the nurse instructed and supported the patient. Many patients have difficulty understanding the information presented to them by physical/mental limitations, health literacy or a language barrier. It is critical that nurses and all health care providers are provided with the strategies to effectively teach patients correctly, safely and give the information in a way that the patient can comprehend and understand. In Southampton Hospital, the educational and discharge information provided to the patients needs to be updated. The

Providing written information using the patient’s own words. Building teach-back skills within the clinical team.

Through research studies, it has been determined that the teach-back method is effective when educating patients and assessing learning. Teach-back education sessions are low cost, can have a positive impact on a patient’s life and may prevent readmission of the patient (White, Garbez, Carroll, Brinker, & Howie-Esquivel, 2013). The nursing education department in the hospital is aware of the issues and have been providing unit based in-services on the use of interpreters, and the teach-back method. Hopefully, this will benefit the patients and the staff.

Conclusion

Patient education will always be a part of the care provided by nurses. Although it is difficult to find the time needed to teach our patients, we will always be teachers and advocates for our patients. Using the strategies mentioned will help the nurse to provide educational and discharge instructions that will be understood by the patient and their families. Hopefully, this will prevent noncompliance and readmission of the patient shortly after