The Importance Of Patient Education

The practice of nursing is known to be a holistic practice, focusing on patients’ physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs. Healthcare providers have a duty to not only care for the various needs of their patients, but they also have a responsibility to teach. It is the nurse’s duty to ensure that the patient knows about their condition, the treatments for it, and ways to prevent further complications. Health literacy is a concept that has a direct relationship with a patient 's health status and health experience. Higher readmission rates and poorer outcomes are more common in patients with low health literacy than patients with a high literacy level (Eadie, 2014). In this article we will discuss the importance of educating

One major aspect of the self-care deficit theory is that patients need to know about their health problems in order to become responsible for their health. Orem believed one way of helping a patient reach his/her self-care goal is through teaching. Her theory is the framework behind nursing action to provide patient education in a comfortable and supportive setting (Bernier, 2002.) Through this model we see that patient education is vital to nursing. Orem’s work helps nurses understand the goal of nursing and lays the foundation to achieving it by patient education and other

Patient education stems from teaching basic health practices and informing patients of health literacy. In order to accomplish the various types of patient education there are many different practices that can be used to do so. The simplest forms of patient education are examples such as patient teaching with health screenings. During health screenings a doctor and/or nurse will assess patients and intervene with treatment if needed. In the event of treatment the healthcare provider will use patient education to teach the patient of the current health condition and practices to help with the patient’s current health condition. It is suggested that the healthcare provider must first be able to identify the patient’s health literacy before they can begin educating a patient (Eadie, 2014). If the patient has no current health issues a nurse or healthcare provider can then use patient education to help a patient maintain a healthy lifestyle. Self-screenings, daily exercise, and nutritional diets are easy practices that a nurse can encourage to help sustain a healthy life for a patient. Along with face-to-face patient education there has been a significant advancement in patient education through health campaigns. According to Eadie (2014) , Healthy People 2020 is a health campaign set aside by the government as a form of patient education in efforts decrease health issues and improve patient