My Patient Education Experience: Bellevue Hospital

Friedman, A. J., Boyko, S., Cosby, R., Hatton-Bauer, J., & Turnbull, G. (2009). Effective Teaching Strategies and Methods of Delivery for Patient Education. 37.

The credential professional I interviewed was Heather Romero who is a Patient Care Coordinator at Lovelace Hospital. I am very interested in holding a position as a Patient Care Coordinator after graduation. After interviewing this individual I am eager to pursue this as a career path and feel it would be a good fit for me in the future. I am also thinking of changing my major to Nursing because the degree I am pursing right now might not be a good fit for a Patient Care Coordinator. I have prepared ten questions that I wanted to ask Heather Romero about the healthcare field I was interested in.

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

With predictions projecting “one in three individuals will develop type 2 diabetes by 2050” (Powers et al., 2016, p. 70), the importance of patient teaching to help manage and preserve a good quality of life is paramount. With the nurse being on the front lines when patients are

My understanding and recall of medications needs to improve to match the environment I am working in. Although it is important to be alert for changes in best practice and recommended treatment protocols, having full knowledge of all medications regularly prescribed to the patient population would reduce the time needed to verify orders, build care plans, and carry out med passes. Since pharmacology is a concurrent course, it is not expected that I would have

The more the patient knows the better off the patient is. Drug interactions can make some drugs less effective; it can cause unexpected used effects and increase the action of some of the drugs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, 2013). Educating the patient on the potential interactions will decrease the likelihood of those interactions happening. When educating the patient it is vital for the patient to explain back to the health care worker what was just said. This verifies that the patient was paying attention to what the health care worker was saying as well as understands what was being said. Sending the patient home with written material about interactions is also vital. Not always is the patient understanding what is being said, especially if the patient just found out they have a new medical condition, they may not be fully listening to what is being told to them. That way when the patient gets home and has questions the patient can look at the sheet and with any luck get the answers to their questions. Educating about possible interactions is a vital part of nursing care and

Since last year, I have volunteered at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit and until recently the Emergency Room. My time there has brought to my attention the more unpleasant side of medicine. Whether escorting patients or attending to their needs, I noticed that many of them were quiet and avoided eye contact. Several of the doctors spoke to and treated these patients in a brute manner which I found quite upsetting. These sick or injured patients were worried and scared, and were served with the promise that no one would be turned away. Yet many were silent as they were afraid of “bothering” the doctors. In spite of this, I did my best giving patients some peace of mind by just spending a few moments of my time to chat and to listen their needs as liasion and support. Seeing them smile and at ease has shown me that I have done my job but more

According to Healthy People 2012 there are more then 800,000 new cases of diabetes each year, with the numbers on the rise. With this in mind, Healthy People 2012 has identified diabetes as their number five focus area. In order to reach their goal of improving the quality of life for people with diabetes they have identified diabetes teaching as their number one objective. Furthermore, in order to reduce the number of complications of diabetes, Healthy People 2012 has identified foot ulcers as their ninth objective. Through patient education Healthy People 2012 hopes to reduce the number of foot ulcers in people with diabetes, as diabetes is the number one cause of nontraumatic amputations in the United States. In order to

The need to educate patients about the medications they are receiving is becoming more and more important. Patients may have no idea why they are taking the medication that they are prescribed. When patients know why they are taking a medication and what some of the side effects are to that medication they are able to keep themselves safe. Patient safety related to medication communication is something that may be overlooked in settings that prescribe medications. The more knowledgeable the patient is about the medications they are taking the better they are to understand their specific disease process and improve their own safety. “A patient’s understanding of his or her medications is vital to a satisfactory patient experience and it also drives safety and quality” (Improving Medication Communication with Ask 3/Teach 3, 2013).

This made me nervous as to how I was going to communicate with her. My mentor stood back in order to allow me to administer the medications and I felt unable to ask the question, “How do I communicate with this patient?”

Working as a pharmacy technician was initially only thought of as a stepping stone to advance my clinical experience. I had little expectations with regards to gaining valuable lessons because pharmacy was an area I had little interest in. Nonetheless, it was one of the more enlightening experiences because it taught me the shortcomings of our country's healthcare system. I became aware of the insurance system and the obstacles that must be overcome to ensure one’s prescription was covered. My communication and team skills drastically improved with interacting between co-workers, providers, and patients. I became more acquainted with regular patients and understood their adversities. Through simple conversations, I realized that providing emotional

Most of the patients were on insulin but different types and doses namely rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting, and pre-mixed depending on the individual’s response to insulin (WebMD, 2014). The incident that helped me achieve my learning need was when a diabetic patient in his late thirties known as patient A, was admitted with a diabetic foot ulcer medically referred to as a neuropathic foot ulcer. Krentz and Bailey, 2001 in their research found that neuropathic foot ulcers generate when diabetes causes nerve damage in the feet and alters the ability for the feet to feel pain. This causes unnoticed ulcers on the affected feet which later develop into bigger ulcers. On the morning of my third day, after handovers, I went on drug rounds with my mentor and for patient A, I noticed that he had 6 different types of drugs for his diabetic condition. Most of the drugs that were administered to him were also given to other diabetes patients on the ward. I told my mentor what I had noticed and he confirmed that those 6 drugs were commonly used for diabetic patients. I listed down those drugs in a small pocket diary I always carried along on that ward. Later that day during lunch break, I sat with my mentor and discussed my learning needs with him making mention of this particular one and discussed measures that would help me achieve my objectives.

As the body ages and changes begin to occur, there is a stigma surrounding the aging body. When one typically thinks of an aging adult they may view the entire person as weak and deteriorating. Through my very little experience, while the aging body may not be what it once was, the mind and body can still be just as sharp, and in some cases, sharper than what is was years before.

This discussion post will reflect on two learning objectives presented to my patient Tina, from the Shadow Health instructional site. Description of the instructional method chosen, the evaluation tool used to measure effectiveness of teaching method, and overcoming anticipated or potential barriers will be discussed to provide an overall effective teaching/learning environment. Nurse educators need to create an environment that is conducive to learning by understanding and presenting material and information that will coincide with the learner’s level and decide whether family, peer, or social sources are required (Bastable, 2014, p. 212). Every patient is different and recognizing these differences are vital for the nurse to design instructional

I went to the nurse’s station and brought a menu for her and tried as best I could to explain things that were better choices for to eat as snack as well as meal choices such as no carbohydrates. This patient was very unsteady on her feet and was ordered a physical therapy consult. I helped her ambulate in the hallway because she said she wanted help to get stronger so that she could go home to her pets; her pets meant the world to her since she lived alone. It was in this semester that I really started caring about what happened to these patients and felt that I needed to do as much teaching and ambulating as possible to help patients gain knowledge and strength to successfully care for themselves after their discharge. The other patient that I had was admitted with a new diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF). She was in the ICU 3 months ago with pneumonia and on a ventilator for a period of time. Her daughter and granddaughter stayed with around the clock even though the patient was stable and able to talk for herself. Her daughter questioned every new medication and every new procedure done on her