Interpersonal Communication In Patient Education

Improving the quality of discharge planning in acute care include addressing the lack of appropriate staff and patient education about appropriate planning for discharge (4). This includes implementing proper discharge teaching regarding signs and symptoms to seek medical attention, management and care of medical equipment, and access to community resources (4, 5). Other challenges are patients with complex comorbidities too difficult to discharge as well as lack of community supports and equipment for newly discharge patients and lack of rehabilitation and nursing home beds (4). Consequently, acute care units are pressured to vacate hospital beds in response to the growing elderly population. Hospital professionals tend to focus discharge teaching and preparation on medical areas such as diet, activity, treatments, and medications (5). Community referrals to appropriate services at the time of hospital discharge does not often happen contributing to poorer patient outcomes and re-hospitalizations

Communication is all around us. It’s the way we interact with each other in everyday living. Our senses have a lot to do with the way we receive communication, and even if a sense is impaired there are still ways to get the idea across to people.

Teaching-learning session is almost the same to the nursing process that is used in clinical settings (Habel,2006). In the learning process, the initial step is assessment of the learners understanding towards their health condition, which is then followed by the questions what do they need to learn and what will be the appropriate approach to teach them (Habel, 2006).

Being a student in the UW nursing school, I can not only take advantage of the special classroom settings, but also the advanced technology. With classroom settings designed for active learning, it gives me opportunities to share my thoughts and ideas with other students. Instead of listening passively, we would work as a team to find out the best solution for patients. Besides, the unique state-of-the-art technology allows me to practice and apply my knowledge in a simulated hospital setting. Since every practice is recorded, I can take a look at those videos several times and self-reflect. Thus, I can correct my mistakes and improve.

Within a health care setting communication is a necessity. This communication not only includes the need for professional communication but also the way in which information is shared to the patient and to other healthcare workers. Another important aspect of health care worker such as a nurse is the effectiveness off a handover. Within the video, Effective Communication in nursing these three aspects of communication (Professional communication, provision of information and handover) were seen and will be analysed further, within this essay. These will be analysed through the three aspects, the care of the patient, the image of the individual nurse and the health outcomes of the patient. All of these three aspects of communication are vitally important to the overall patient needs.

Our clinical group elected to do this semester’s teaching project on correct insulin administration. This topic is relevant because millions of Americans are currently affected with diabetes. Correct administration of the insulin injection is necessary for proper absorption, and also to prevent a condition where fat accumulates under the skin from injections called lipohypertrophy. This information is fundamental in the nursing process, due to nurses frequently administer insulin to patients, as well as play a vital role in patient education. Research has indicated that many patients do not recall receiving any education on how to administer insulin correctly. For our teaching, we created a poster to hang in the staff restroom on the ICU West floor at Redmond Medical

Discharge planning is used to create a plan of care for a patient who is leaving a care setting. An evaluation is done to determine the patient’s continuing care needs once they have left the care facility. When patients are send back home or to a facility that does not require full time nursing care assistance, programs need to be put into place to ensure that the patient is receiving the proper continuation of care post discharge. Proper discharge planning can decrease the chances of a hospital readmit, help in recovery, ensure medications are prescribed and given correctly, and adequately prepare family or caregivers to assume proper post discharge care. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, “It is important, not only for patients, but family

Studies have found that improvements in hospital discharge planning can dramatically improve the outcome for patients as they move to the next level of care (Alliance, 2016). Moreover, Patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers all play roles in maintaining a patient's health after discharge. And although it's a significant part of the overall care plan, conversely there is a surprising lack of consistency in both the process and quality of discharge planning across the healthcare system (S. Shapperd,

Therapeutic communication is seen as a complex skill that involves much subtlety and requires a range of different approaches (Jones, 2009). The importance of therapeutic communication and professional relationships with patients as a prime means of attaining healthcare treatment found to be the underlying theme in interpersonal relationships ( Arnold and Boggs, 2011). Therapeutic communication can create a nurse-patient relationship that enhances choice and responsibility, improves patient input and cooperation and thereby maximizes care outcomes (Rosenberg and Gallo-Silver, 2011). By integrating knowledge with compassion, the skill of therapeutic communication is regarded as the nurse’s greatest asset in reducing stresses and establishing a bond (Rosenberg and Gallo-Silver, 2011). Therefore, person-centred communication is regarded as the mandatory fundamentals in health professions (O’Toole, 2012). Attaining person-centred communication is often challenging and it is essentially required in health professions (O’Toole, 2012). One of the important basis for patient-centred communication is the effective listening (O’Toole, 2012). This essay briefly explains the various components of active listening skills that enhance therapeutic communication. Finally this essay concludes with a self-assessment of the current knowledge and skills that the author possess, followed by a development plan that shows the goals and strategies that can be used to improve author’s active

Discharge planning is a process that aims to improve the coordination of services after discharge from hospital by considering the patient’s needs in the community. It seeks to bridge the gap between hospital and the place to which the patient is discharged, reduce length of stay in hospital, and minimise unplanned readmission to hospital.1

The use of evidence-based teach-back techniques provides nurses with the necessary tools to assess the patient’s health literacy while confirming effective learning. Educational interventions implementing “teach-back” have proven to be successful in evaluating retention and comprehension of patient education material (Bobay et al., 2015; Kornburger et al., 2013). Teach-back methodology is an evidence-based strategy utilized at the bedside to verify understanding and reinforce important discharge information (Kornburger et al., 2013). Teach-back, also known as the “show me” and “repeat back” technique, is used as a strategy to minimize miscommunication between patient and nurse (National Quality Forum, 2005; White et al., 2012). The National Quality Forum (NQF) has promoted the teach-back method as “one of thirty-four proven safe practices mitigating medication errors and adverse events “(Jager & Wynia, 2012, p.295). Furthermore, the Joint Commission (JC), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) support the use of teach-back as best practice when completing discharge teaching to ensure positive outcomes (Jager & Wynia, 2012; Kornburger et al., 2013; White et al., 2012). Instituting best practice, as well as communication that is timely, accurate and understood by the patient can reduce adverse events and

I order to have good interprofessional communication, hospitals and clinics need a system that allows for a multilateral communication so providers and other members of the team can be on the same page and provide unified care. When working in a team, unified care is a central aspect that can either help you provide excellent or poor treatment and care.

After identification of a patient teaching need the next step in the teaching process is establishing a measurable goal. “Teaching goals are broad in scope and set down what is expected as the final outcome of the teaching and learning process” (Wilkinson & Van Leuven, 2007, p. 538). In order to achieve a high level of standard, teaching goals need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. For our example, the teaching goal for J.L. and his diabetic foot care is as follows: Client is able to state five things he can do to prevent diabetic foot complications by the end of the teaching session implemented on Sunday January 24, 2012. Specifically, the five items J.L. will identify are to monitor and manage his diabetes, inspect feet daily, wash feet with warm water while drying between toes and apply moisturizing cream to feet daily (not between toes), avoid walking barefoot or with unfitted shoes, and calling the doctor should he notice any changes in his feet.

The nurse should act as a facilitator, creating an environment conducive to learning that motivates individuals to want to learn and makes it possible for them to learn (Musinski, 1999). The assessment of learning needs, the designing of a teaching plan, the implementation of instructional methods and materials, and the evaluation of teaching and learning should include participation by both the educator and the learner. Thus, the emphasis should be on the facilitation of learning from a nondirective rather than a didactic teaching approach (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998; Musinski, 1999; Mangena & Chabeli, 2005; Donner et al., 2005).

Discharge Planning – Patients who require continuing care after release from the hospital are identified and the appropriate services are arranged through participating home care, medical equipment and other providers.