DQ: Describe the nurse’s role and responsibility as health educator
DQ: Describe the nurse’s role and responsibility as health educator
The nurse’s job is to ensure that patients and their caregivers are equipped with the knowledge they need to take care of themselves after acute care. Many factors can affect their ability to learn and retain important healthcare information. Nurses need to consider the level of education, cultural barriers, and life experiences (Whitney, 2018). In Los Angeles, 39% of the population reported that Spanish was the primary language spoken in their home, according to a 2019 census poll (American Community Survey, 2019). Nurses can overcome this barrier by using translators every time they educate the patient or their family to have the patient or caregiver teach back what they have learned. Nurses must also ensure that every written educational document is printed in Spanish. By overcoming a language barrier, nurses can be confident that the Spanish-speaking patient will understand objectives for learning new behaviors regarding their healthcare. Behavioral objectives can be used in any setting by the nurse to help patients modify behavior to improve their health and wellness (Whitney, 2018). Nurses should first assess and identify barriers to learning, then formulate a teaching/care plan that includes relevant behavioral objectives. These objectives should be measurable to determine their effectiveness and include actions by the patient to modify their behavior (Whitney, 2018).
Whitney, S. (2018). Teaching and learning styles, In Grand Canyon University (Eds.), Health promotion: Health and Wellness Across the Continuum. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/#/chapter/1
American Community Survey. (2019). Languages Spoken at Home. Explore census data. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://data.census.gov/cedsci/all?q=spanish%20speakers%20in%20los%20angeles
Patient education is a significant responsibility for all nurses. Should educate a patient from the moment of admission to the date of discharge. There are always opportunities for nurses to teach patients and enforce teaching. According to Whitney, the first process of being a health educator and teaching is patient assessment (2018). Patient assessment is necessary because each patient has a different learning style, education level, values, and belief system. Nurses are also responsible for assessing any barriers to learning. These barriers include culture, health disparities, environment, language, literary, and physiological barriers (Whitney, 2018). Patients need to be educated to make informed decisions, manage their health, prevent illness, and promote health. Nurses collaborate with an interdisciplinary team to develop a teaching plan tailored to a patient.
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A nurse educator may collaborate with an interdisciplinary team to develop a tailored individual care plan. It is important for nurses to find out what is important to their patients and what motivates them to make the teaching more effective (Smith & Zsohar, 2013). This will be different for every patient because each patient has another motivator and readiness to learn. Nurses should utilize the teach-back method to demonstrate effective teaching. When developing educational programs in health promotion, nurses need to focus on a specific target group with the same values and goals. It is important to determine the literacy level and any other barriers to learning. Providing various resources such as video, written, and audio material is essential for teaching and evaluating the patient’s knowledge of teaching.
Behavioral objectives should be utilized in a patient’s care plan when the patient is willing to learn and change. Before nurses can use the behavioral objective, they need to determine the patient’s readiness to change and create an objective for the patient’s stage (Whitney, 2018). There are six stages of change. Nurses play a crucial role in patient education and are key players in improving patient health and wellness.
References:-
Whitney, S. (2018). Teaching and Learning Styles. In Health Promotion: Health & Wellness Across the Continuum. www.gcu.com. Retrieved from http://www.gcu.com/
Smith, J. A., & Zsohar, H. (2013). Patient-education tips for new nurses : Nursing2022. LWW. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/nursing/Fulltext/2013/10000/Patient_education_tips_for_new_nurses.24.aspx
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