A medical assistant with good medical patient education skills identifies and applies proper written and verbal communication to instruct patients in good health and wellness, nutrition, hygiene, treatment and medication, pre- and postoperative care, body mechanics, and personal and physical safety. Health Education
Full Answer
What do you need to include in patient education?
With any type of patient education, you will likely need to cover: What your patient needs to do and why. When your patient can expect results (if applicable) Warning signs (if any) your patient should watch for. What your patient should do if a problem occurs. Who your patient should contact for questions or concerns.
What is the best way to teach patient education?
While the majority of patient education has traditionally been provided one-on-one by clinicians and through written materials, health systems are increasingly experimenting with other teaching tools including: online learning modules, group visits, audio recordings, and videos.
What is the first step in the patient education process?
The first step is to assess the patient's current knowledge about their condition and what they want to know. Some patients need time to adjust to new information, master new skills, or make short- or long-term lifestyle changes. Your patient's preferences can guide your choice of education materials and methods.
How do you choose the right patient education materials?
Choosing effective patient education materials. The first step is to assess the patient's current knowledge about their condition. Some patients need time to adjust to new information, master new skills, or make short- or long-term lifestyle changes.
What should be included in patient education?
Gather information about patient's daily activities, knowledge, health beliefs and level of understanding. Tailor education to the patient's educational level and cultural background. Inform patient of findings clearly and concisely. Discuss treatment plans in terms of specific behaviors.
How do you educate a patient on their condition?
Consider these five strategies.Take advantage of educational technology. Technology has made patient education materials more accessible. ... Determine the patient's learning style. ... Stimulate the patient's interest. ... Consider the patient's limitations and strengths. ... Include family members in health care management.
What is the best way to educate patients?
Your patient's preferences can guide your choice of education materials and methods.Find out how your patient likes to learn.Be realistic. ... Pay attention to the patient's concerns. ... Respect the patient's limits. ... Organize the information for easier comprehension.More items...•
What is the 4 Step patient education process?
The questionnaire measured patient education process in four dimensions: need assessment, planning, implementing and evaluating.
Why is education important in patient care?
Patient education can help providers inform and remind patients of the proper ways to self-manage care and avoid nonessential readmissions. Better education can also help patients understand the care setting most appropriate for their condition and avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital.
How is patient education important?
Patient education promotes patient-centered care and increases adherence to medication and treatments. An increase in compliance leads to a more efficient and cost-effective healthcare delivery system. Educating patients ensures continuity of care and reduces complications related to the illness.
What is the most important goal in patient education?
Once identified, these outcome measures can be assembled into a model, the deepest goal of which is to improve patients' quality of life (see figure). Such models also enable insightful evaluation of health care programs and their proposed effects.
How do nurses provide patient education?
A hands-on approach is instrumental in guaranteeing that a patient understands medical requirements. Nurses should perform a demonstration and have patients repeat back the information or carry out the procedure themselves. Nurses should also teach the patient's family members, friends or caregivers at home.
What is the nurse's role in patient education?
A Nurses' Role in Patient Education Nurses play an important role in patient education by increasing a patient's knowledge and confidence in skills they will need after being released from the hospital. These skills can prepare a patient at discharge.
What is the first step in patient education?
Patient Assessment: The FIRST STEP in patient education is the review the Admission Assessment for learning needs. Then meet with the patient to determine what are specific needs for that patient.
What are the three purposes of patient education?
Maintenance and promotion of health and illness prevention, restoration of health, and coping with impaired functions.
What are the three types of health education?
Three types of health education [1980] Abstract: Types of health education in Britain may be categorized as personal physical health and maintenance, the use of health care resources, and the importance of the environment to public health.
How to advance patient education?
Some of the things nurses can do to advance patient education include: Delegate more responsibilities to support staff and be more focused on patient education. Begin educating patients with every encounter from admission. Find out what the patient already knows. Correct any misinformation.
Why is patient education important?
For patients to take a proactive role in their own care, they need to comprehend their condition and work to prevent or minimize complications from any chronic illnesses. Patient education needs to be comprehensive and easily understood.
How to prevent rehospitalization?
Preventing re-hospitalization is a huge responsibility, especially in consideration of costly penalties that are levied for early readmissions. To accomplish this, nurses need to constantly improve patient teaching and education prior to discharge. Some of the things nurses can do to advance patient education include: 1 Delegate more responsibilities to support staff and be more focused on patient education. 2 Begin educating patients with every encounter from admission. 3 Find out what the patient already knows. Correct any misinformation. 4 Feed patients information in layman’s terms. Utilize visual aids as often as possible. 5 Question their understanding of the care, and plan for the next lesson. 6 Use return demonstration when administering care. Involve the patient from the very first treatment. 7 Ask the patient to tell you how they would explain (step-by-step) their disease or treatment to their loved one. 8 Make sure the patient understands the medications as you administer them. Make sure they understand how and when to refill medications. 9 Provide patients with information about signs and symptoms of their condition that will require immediate attention.
What is the Patient Teaching Navigator content set within Lippincott Advisor?
In addition, the Patient Teaching Navigator content set within Lippincott Advisor includes general teaching guidance for clinicians, as well as instruction on specific types of learning scenarios for patients.
How has technology made patient education materials more accessible?
Technology has made patient education materials more accessible. Educational resources can be customized and printed out for patients with the touch of a button. Make sure the patient’s individualized needs are addressed. Don't simply hand the patient a stack of papers to read, review them with patients to ensure they understand the instructions and answer questions that arise. Some resources are available in several languages.
Why is family important in patient teaching?
Involving family members in patient teaching improves the chances that your instructions will be followed. In many cases, you will be providing most of the instruction to family members. Families play a critical role in health care management.
Why is teaching patients important?
Whether teaching a new mom how to bathe a newborn baby or instructing an adult who is living with a chronic heart disease, a successful outcome depends on the quality of the nurse’s instruction and support. Consider these five strategies.
What are some examples of patient education?
There are many ways to deliver patient education. Examples include one-on-one teaching, demonstrations, and analogies or word pictures to explain concepts. You can also use one or more of the following teaching tools: Brochures or other printed materials. Podcasts.
How to develop a plan for a patient?
Consider factors such as literacy, numeracy, and culture as you develop a plan. Avoid fear tactics. Focus instead on the benefits of education. Tell your patient what to pay special attention to. Be sure to review any materials you plan to use before sharing them with the patient.
How to teach a patient to be a good listener?
Be realistic. Focus on what your patient needs to know, not on what is nice to know. Pay attention to the patient's concerns. The person may have to overcome a fear before being open to teaching. Respect the patient's limits. Offer the patient only the amount of information they can handle at one time.
What is the first step in a patient assessment?
The first step is to assess the patient's current knowledge about their condition and what they want to know. Some patients need time to adjust to new information, master new skills, or make short- or long-term lifestyle changes.
What is the first step in assessing a patient's needs?
Once you have assessed your patient's needs, concerns, readiness to learn, preferences, support, and possible barriers to learning, you will need to: The first step is to assess the patient's current knowledge about their condition and what they want to know. Some patients need time to adjust to new information, master new skills, ...
Do you need to adjust your education plan based on the patient's health status and environmental factors?
Be aware that you may need to adjust your education plan based on the patient's health status and environmental factors.
Can you get the right materials for your patients?
In some cases, it may not be possible to get the right materials for your patients' needs. For example, it may be hard to find materials on new treatments in certain languages or on sensitive topics. Instead, you may try having a discussion with the patient on sensitive topics or creating your own tools for the patient's needs.
Why use patient education materials?
Because of this, use patient education materials in the best environment for people to remember the information. Health literacy starts at the facility, yet it needs to go beyond that. Providing a more comfortable space for patients to learn will help them retain more of these details that they’d normally forget.
Why don't patients adhere to treatment?
One of the main reasons that patients don’t adhere to treatment is because they lack health literacy. When they don’t understand how to make decisions or follow their medical plan, they’re less likely to adhere. Since doctors know that health literacy is a cause, they can prevent this with better education.
How can doctors implement best design practices?
There are also ways to reduce the amount of effort in creating and providing materials. Using current health technology simplifies transmitting content to clients. And using the teach-back technique can help fill in any existing gaps.
How many people have intermediate health literacy?
Only 53% of adults have intermediate health literacy. This is the ability to acquire and understand medical information to follow treatment and make health decisions. Because of this major lack of literacy, doctors need to ensure that they’re putting more effort into educating their clients. People who don’t understand how to make medical choices ...
Why do doctors use connectivity?
Many devices have connectivity options to send physicians the wearer’s data. This helps doctors track a patient’s daily health so they can determine if the person needs more literacy. If a doctor notices any issues in their data, they can reach out to the client to offer patient education materials.
Can you learn one on one with home health?
It’s already difficult to get to the doctor so they won’t be going out of their way for any extra education. In these areas, one-on-one learning can be helpful with home health services.
How can nurses educate patients?
Hospital nurses can best educate patients by understanding that discharge planning begins with admission. Nurses have to ensure patients are effectively educated throughout their hospitalization so that they are prepared to care for themselves and don’t return for the same issue. Spending the last 20 minutes of a hospital stay discussing the patient’s illness and follow up care is not adequate. Handing him materials to read on his way home is most ineffective because he likely has little to no understanding of what he was hospitalized for and why he needs to follow up. Without proper education he will return home and resume his previous life style until he has another episode. Preventing re-hospitalization is a huge responsibility for the entire health care industry. To accomplish our part of this task we as nurses need to constantly improve patient education.
Why is it important to educate patients?
Educating patients helps to improve their outcomes and in the bigger scheme of things will lower the cost of medical care through the wellness model.
How can nurses improve patient education?
We cannot create more time for nurses. Some of the things nurses can do to improve patient education include: Delegate more responsibilities to their support staff and be more focused on patient education. Begin educating patients with every encounter from admission.
How to explain medication to a patient?
Make sure the patient understands their medications as you administer them. Quiz them on the actions and side effects. Explain to the patient how this will help them to control their chronic or acute disease and what outcomes to expect. Further you need to explore with the patient whether these medications will be necessary long term? Do they understand how and when to refill medications? If this is the first time a patient has had an acute illness he may not know that he needs to refill a medication. That process may be completely foreign to him.
How to help patients with information?
Feed patients information in layman’s terms. Utilize visual activities as often as possible. People remember what the see far more than what they hear or read.
What is the role of patients in health care?
This means they need to comprehend their health status and work to stabilize and prevent or minimize complications from any chronic illnesses. Patient education needs to be comprehensive and easily understood.
What is patient education?
Patient education programs are a critical step for empowering patients to take an active role in their health and wellness by taking their medications correctly. When designing a patient education program, health care leaders should consider four key questions.
Who is responsible for patient education?
Traditionally, nurses have been responsible for the majority of patient education. However, in many cases, high-risk patients (i.e., patients with complex or serious disease, polypharmacy patients, patients at high risk for readmissions, and/or patients with limited support at home) may also benefit from an education session with a pharmacist or other clinician with more specialized knowledge.
How many patients misunderstood the instructions for properly taking their prescriptions immediately after their doctor's visit?
Medication adherence is integral to patient health outcomes, yet research reveals that more than 60% of patients misunderstood the instructions for properly taking their prescriptions immediately after their doctor's visit.
Why is it important to schedule education sessions that coincide with periods of lower anxiety?
Stress interferes with patients' abilities to learn and retain information. It is important to schedule education sessions that coincide with periods of lower anxiety when the patient is alert and able to focus on learning.
When is it better to educate patients before discharge?
Some organizations have found that educating patients the day before discharge or even providing short education sessions over multiple days is more effective than education at discharge, when the patient may already be overwhelmed with discharge preparations.
Who would be present to learn alongside the patient and act as a second set of ears?
Ideally, the patient's caregivers would also be present to learn alongside the patient and act as a "second set of ears."
What is a clinician responsible for?
Clinicians are responsible for teaching patients about their medications and treatment plan. To ensure that patients are receiving the information they need, there must be clear assignment of responsibility. Traditionally, nurses have been responsible for the majority of patient education.
How long before surgery can you drink alcohol?
DO NOT take or drink any alcohol or drugs for one week prior to surgery and one week after surgery as these can interfere with anesthesia and affect blood clotting.
Can you take cold medicine before surgery?
DO report any signs of cold, infection, boils, or pustules appearing before surgery. DO NOT take any cough or cold medications without permission. DO arrange for a responsible adult to drive you to and from the facility on the day or surgery, since you will not be allowed to leave on your own.
Can you take multiple doses of vitamin E?
No “ megadoses” of vitamin E, but a multiple vitamin that contains E is just fine.
Can you drink water before surgery?
DO NOT eat or drink anything ( not even water) after midnight the night before your surgery. Also, no gum, candy, mints or coffee the morning of surgery. Do not sneak anything as this may endanger you. If you are on regular medications, please clear these with Doctor.
Can you clear medications with a doctor?
If you are on regular medications, please clear these with Doctor.
Patient Education Techniques
Patient Educational Materials
The Patient Information Packet
- During the first visit to a physician’s office, a medical assistant will typically educate the patient about the practices and policies of the office. By distributing an information packet, the patient will develop a level of trust with the practice and staff. Some of the administrative matters that the patient information packet will explain include an introduction to the office and staff, the qualific…
Promoting Health and Wellness
- Medical assistants can help promote health and wellness of their patients through education that focuses on healthy habits, protection from injury, and preventative measures to decrease the risk of disease or illness. Patient education in the physician’s office should help patients to achieve these goals. Healthy Habits– The medical assistant, with order and guidance from the physician…
Patient Education Prior to Surgery
- It is important for a medical assistant to properly educate a patient prior to surgery to reduce risks, prepare the patient, and create a positive outcome after surgery. This education involves preparation for the surgery and postoperative care after the surgery. Properly educating a patient prior to surgery can also release the physician’s office ...