Assignment: Nurse’s  Role and Responsibility as Health Educator.

Assignment: Nurse’s Role and Responsibility as Health Educator.

Assignment: Nurse’s Role and Responsibility as Health Educator.

One of the main roles of being a registered nurse is being able to provide education that is specific to the patient’s level of current knowledge and understanding. Ensuring patients’ understanding of every procedure and/or intervention is what contributes to the patient’s health awareness and wellbeing as a whole. As a nurse, it is crucial to implement patient education based on their specific needs, all the while being aware of cultural competency. Being aware of a patient’s cultural background will not only promote a better patient outcome but enforcing this in every patient care will significantly enhance a trusting relationship between nurses and their patients.

Being a health educator in the nursing industry consists of many roles in each patient care. However, some of the most common roles in everyday practice are implementing healthier changes and self-care behaviors, in which can both reduce risk factors related to the most common diseases (Whitney, 2018). Most often, printed information of the patients’ diagnosis, treatment, education, etc. is not enough to fulfill the patient’s satisfaction and understanding. In addition, patients may often feel overwhelmed by printed information, especially if they do not have any medical background. This can certainly lead to being discouraged and losing the overall motivation to learn more about their health care. With that said, however, there are several techniques that nurses can use to enhance patient care and understanding.

Following the nursing process by first assessing the patient can provide nurses the basic understanding of how to better approach patients when it comes to patient education. Asking open-ended questions, assessing any learning barriers and/or concerns are some of the effective ways that can encourage patients to communicate their specific needs (Smith & Zsohar, 2013). Furthermore, one of the most commonly used strategies is the “teach-back, tell back” method, where a nurse performs and teaches the patient how to do certain procedures. Afterward, the patient will do this specific procedure under the guidance of his/her nurse (Smith & Zsohar, 2013). This method secures true understanding and patient safety, all the while building their self-care confidence. Behavioral objectives should be established in every patient care. The identification of these objectives can certainly help nurses implement health promotion and patient understanding.

Reference

Smith, J. A., Zsohar, H. (2013). Patient-education tips for new nurses. Nursing 2021, 43(10), 1-3.

Whitney, S. (2018). Teaching and learning styles. UpToDate. Retrieved December 08, 2021, from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/#/chapter/1

Describe the nurse’s role and responsibility as health educator. What strategies, besides the use of learning styles, can a nurse educator consider when developing tailored individual care plans, or for educational programs in health promotion? When should behavioral objectives be utilized in a care plan or health promotion?

Due Date: Tuesday 7 Book:

Read Chapter 1 inHealth Promotion: Health and Wellness Across the Continuum.

URL: https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/grand-canyon-university/2018/health-promotion_health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum_1e.php

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Describe the nurse’s role and responsibility as health educator. What strategies, besides the use of learning styles, can a nurse educator consider when developing tailored individual care plans, or for educational programs in health promotion? When should behavioral objectives be utilized in a care plan or health promotion? 

 Every nurse has the responsibility to educate their patients on treatment, medication, lifestyle, diet, exercise, and more. Education starts on the first day of admission and ends on the day of discharge, and if needed, education can continue after that. Before developing a care plan, it is very important to know the patient’s cognitive abilities to see how the education is going to be provided and who else is going to be involved in the education.

Assessment is the first step in planning the teaching process. The nurse should assess any barriers that might exist. (Whitney, 2018). The education will be based on the patient’s plan of care and will depend on the patient’s diagnosis, cognitive abilities, culture, environment, and readiness to learn. In order to provide health promotion, it is important to find patients behavioral objectives. Find out if the patient’s way of learning is more visual, likes images, or more hands-on this can improve patients education.  According to Kluwer (2017), including family members improves the chances that the instructions are followed. Family plays an important role in a patient’s care. Also, it is important to find out when the patient is more receptive to learning. 

  

Whitney, S. (2018). Teaching and learning styles. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.). Health promotion: Health & wellness across the continuum. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/ 

  

Kluwer, W. (2017, August 17). Five strategies for providing effective patient education. Back to top. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/5-strategies-for-providing-effective-patient-education 

The nurse’s role in the patient’s healing process is crucial. Nurses are more than caregivers, they are health educators. It is important for the nurse to understand their own learning style as well as their patient’s for a successful outcome. Unfortunately the care plan is not always followed through by the patient but the duty of the nurse is to acknowledge their inequities to promote health. In order to develop a tailored individual care plan the nurse needs to distinguish the variables that can intervene in the patient’s understanding and adherence to the plan.

According to Falkner et al., health disparities or unequal distributions of resources should be taken into consideration in order to create a teaching plan for patients. (Falkner et al., 2022) Positive outcomes happen when the nurse utilizes effective strategies that engage the patient to understand such as having the patient teach back or demonstrate back. Smith et al., states that teaching is not a one time thing but can be incorporated every time the nurse enters the room. It is also mentioned that the learning environment needs to be favorable for the patient to capture what is being taught. Therefore, a calm and quiet environment is optimal. (Smith & Zsohar, 2013) As mentioned before, behavioral objectives should be utilized every time the nurse enters the room; whether it’s to pass medications, do a dressing change, or assist to the bathroom. Nurses teach about the medications administered, how to do the dressing change at home, and how to call for help when assistance is needed in order to prevent falls.  

 References: 

Falkner, A., Green, S. Z., & Whitney, S. (2022). Health Promotion: Health & Wellness Across the Continuum (Second Edition). Grand Canyon University. 

Smith, J., & Zsohar, H. (2013). Patient-education tips for new nurses. Nursing, 43(10), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nurse.0000434224.51627.8a 

 Health Education is defined as any set of educational activities intended to assist people and communities improve their health by enhancing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes. (Whitney,2018). Nurses fit snugly in to this definition as they work hard day in day out to manage patient’s conditions, prevent complications, the spread of infection, protect and maintain the health of individuals and the community through education on health and rehabilitation. Education is the key to treatment and recovery, hence it is a crucial responsibility of nurses to educate patients on health and healthy living as well as disease prevention.

All nursing staff members must play an important role in patient education. Between admission and discharge, patients must get training. Patient education and training are always opportunities for nurses. Every patient has a unique set of learning preferences, educational background, values, and worldviews, thus it is crucial to evaluate them. Learning disabilities must also be evaluated by the nurse. These obstacles include ones related to culture, well-being, the environment, language, literature, and physicality.

( Whiteney,2018) In order to make informed decisions, manage their health, avoid illness, and promote health, patients need to receive the necessary training. As a health educator, the nurse has a duty to patients (Flanders, 2018). The nurse educator should take into account individuals’ interests, personal strengths, and limits while creating customized individual care plans for health promotion. Technology can make patient education simpler and make patient education resources more accessible. To make sure the patient has the fundamental IT skills needed to browse the internet, the nurse should examine the patient’s level of technological literacy. When creating the health promotion plan, the nurse should also take the person’s interests into account by comprehending their worries. (Bhattad & Pacifico, 2022).

A plan for addressing physical, mental, and emotional deficits must also take the patient’s abilities and limitations into account. When a patient has specific activities or behaviors that need to be altered or carried out in order to achieve the health goal, behavioral objectives should be used in care plans to promote the patient’s health. For instance, if a patient has to stop drinking, the nurse may suggest alternative activities for them to engage in instead of drinking. The patient can make the essential health improvements by learning healthier coping mechanisms from the nurse. In order to modify their unhealthy behavior, the patient must also have the ability to identify it and the willingness to make the required changes. The patient’s readiness to learn from the nurse and ability to put what she has taught them into practice typically has the most influence on the patient’s outcome. (Falker,2018). 

REFERENCEs 

 Falker, A. (2018). Cultural Awareness. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.), Health promotion: Health & wellness across the continuum (1st ed.). https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/#/chapter/1 

Whitney, S. (2018). Teaching and learning styles. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.). Health promotion: Health & wellness across the continuum. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/. 

 Bhattad, P. B., & Pacifico, L. (2022). Empowering Patients: Promoting Patient Education and Health Literacy. Cureus, 14(7), e27336. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.27336