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The Importance Of Health Literacy

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Health Literacy
According to the most recent study of national literacy, the results showed that 29% of Americans have below basic ability and 14% have the basic ability to read writing. In addition, it also showed that many of those that took the survey that had an associate’s or bachelor degrees had below the basic level in health literacy. Low health literacy within patients creates a barrier in the comprehension of their treatment and with their health care provider/nurse. What is health literacy? Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions (Polifko-Harris, 2011). As nurses, we want to provide the best quality and safest care to our patients. As part of our nursing ethics that we protect our patients and our job to ensure patients understand the education they receive when it comes to their treatment by using the “teach back” method to ensure safe care and receive better outcomes.
Why did you select this topic?
Health literacy continues to be an evolving concept that has more recently been viewed as a crosscutting priority in the delivery of safe, quality health care (Parnell, 2014). The reasons why I selected to speak about this topic, relies on helping improve patient safety and promoting better communication between patients and nurses. The importance for the patient to understand why they are visiting the doctor’s office for

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