Patient Teaching
So many nurses complain that they never have time to do any patient teaching. While it's true that you may never have enough time or feel that you can give someone your undivided attention for a significant time, you need to take full advantage of every moment to instruct your patients. There is really no excuse for not doing any teaching or for feeling that you have done none. Use every encounter with your patient to instruct or test his knowledge.
Each time you encounter your patient you're assessing her and the situation. You're also carrying out the planned care and evaluating its necessity and success or failure. The data you gather is both subjective and objective. Listen to what your patient tells you. What has she learned about her experience? What does she understand about her signs and symptoms? What does she know about how to control them?
Every encounter with your patients is a learning experience for them. Recognize the opportunity and make the most of it. Each effort you make will help to improve the outcomes and help your patients to become accountable for their own health care status.
Each time you give a medication to your patients, you should tell them what it is and what it's for. If they already know this, then ask them something about the medication or the diagnosis for which they are taking the medication.
Ask them about their discharge plans and what changes in their lifestyle this episode will cause them to make. If you are performing a task or treatment, explain all the steps and demonstrate them simply. If the task or treatment is something they'll need to learn, start immediately to teach them and use each opportunity to have them participate more and more. If you use each opportunity to build upon the last one, the cumulative effect will provide a basis for you to expand on when you do find a few minutes to spend specifically on patient teaching.
Remind them of each lesson. “Remember what I told you about your medications and the reactions to expect? Does it seem to be having this effect? Can you recognize a difference in the way you feel?”
Build on what you've been teaching them. “Now that I've shown you how I do this dressing change, I want you to tell me the steps as we go along.”
Have them demonstrate and participate. “This time I want you to fill the insulin syringe and tell me why you're doing each step. Then I will do the injection and next time you can do it.”
It might add a minute or two to your procedures, but it accomplishes the most vital step toward making the patient independent in his own care. It also alleviates the need to carve out twenty or thirty minutes of rushed time just before you discharge your patient.
Explain to the patient that you have five minutes to spend with him now and what you expect to accomplish in that time frame. This will help to keep things focused and not to get off track. Later you can talk about fun stuff.
As you spend your day teaching your patients and seeing the results, you'll reap the rewards of knowing that you have made a difference and not feel so much like all you did was push pills and fill out paperwork. Your patients will have better outcomes as well.
