One of the most rewarding aspects of being a nurse is the ability to make a lasting difference in your patients’ lives. The education you provide — whether about their condition, medications, safety precautions, or self-care – can directly impact their recovery and even prevent hospital readmissions.
Nursing has been the most trusted profession for over two decades, according to a recent Gallup poll. But even with this built-in trust, delivering effective patient education comes with challenges. Time constraints, diverse patient needs, and varying levels of health literacy mean nurses must communicate essential information clearly and efficiently.
Keep reading to explore seven evidence-based strategies that will help you make every patient interaction a meaningful learning opportunity, empowering patients to take charge of their health.
Assess Your Patient’s Baseline Knowledge
An assessment begins by gathering baseline information. Clear communication plays an essential role: Taking the time to understand what your patient already knows and recognizing potential misconceptions is a vital first step. Once you have a solid understanding of what a patient does and doesn’t know, then you can begin to address any knowledge gaps.
How To:
- Ask open-ended questions and actively listen to patients’ responses.
- Use screening tools to help establish the patient’s health literacy levels. These tools can highlight the patient’s learning style and preferences in how they would like to receive information.
- Identify nonverbal communication cues, such as body language, which can clue you into potential confusion and prevent misunderstandings.
- Factor in all of this information as you develop a personalized teaching plan.
Be Culturally Sensitive and Inclusive
Every patient is different. As a nurse, your goal is to consider various perspectives and respond with a patient-centered approach. Culturally sensitive and inclusive care means that educational materials are delivered in a way that aligns with the patient’s values and beliefs. There’s no one right or wrong way to do this; culturally competent care is an ongoing learning process for healthcare personnel. When done correctly, it breaks down barriers and improves patient engagement.
How To:
- Consider how a patient’s culture impacts the beliefs they hold about health, illness, and medical practices — these factors influence how a person receives and processes health information.
- Learn as much as you can about health beliefs and practices held by the cultural groups you work with.
- If there’s a language barrier, use medical interpreters to deliver teaching.
- Respect religious practices and work to time your teaching around important observances, such as calls to prayer.
- Ask patients about their preferences for care and include family according to the patient’s wishes.
- Adapt your teaching style to reflect cultural communication norms, such as minimizing eye contact and physical contact and understanding traditional fasting practices.
Encourage Questions and Active Participation
Patients who feel comfortable with their healthcare staff are more likely to ask questions and actively participate in their health education, resulting in better outcomes. Engagement is important because patients who comprehend their health information are better equipped to follow through and adhere to their overall care plan.
How To:
- Emphasize that no question is unimportant. Explicitly state that questions are welcome and encouraged throughout the teaching process.
- Incorporate a tool known as the teach-back method. With the teach-back method, patients are asked to repeat the instructions they have received to help the nurse assess the patient’s level of understanding. You can immediately address the knowledge gap and help reiterate important information to the patient to improve their understanding.
Provide Written and Visual Resources
Different learning styles mean nurses must have a variety of resources available to educate patients. Written instructions can be more effective when paired with visual communication resources, such as diagrams, illustrations, charts, or infographics. Visual resources also provide a reference the patient can look back on. Pairing written and visual resources is especially helpful for patients with varying literacy levels.
How To:
- Break down the information into simple steps. This helps the patient grasp one concept at a time and prevents them from feeling overwhelmed. Headings, labels, and captions should be clear and balanced with the number of visual images.
- Use color to highlight key concepts or break information into smaller sections.
- Make sure images are culturally appropriate.
- Use written and visual resources to complement verbal instruction, not to replace it.
Reinforce Key Points Through Repetition
Repetition can help patients remember important information while simultaneously building their confidence. Key points that are reiterated are more likely to stick, improving the patient’s retention of information. Oftentimes health information leads to strong emotions, including fear and anxiety. Repetition supports the patient while still allowing them to express their emotions.
How To:
- Use information gathered during the assessment phase to identify areas that need reinforcement.
- If a patient is struggling to understand certain information, try using a different approach to repeat the information.
- Provide an overview at the beginning and a summary at the end of a teaching session to reiterate the key points and aid in retention.
- Document what information was covered and include areas that may need additional focus so the healthcare team can review and reinforce the information at subsequent visits.
Use Simple, Clear Language
Using simple, clear language is a technique that works well for both written and verbal communication. The purpose is to simplify the information, making it easier for the patient to understand— and increasing the likelihood that they’ll adhere to the instructions at home. Plain language is particularly important when working with patients who have limited health literacy.
How To:
- Focus on the key points and lead with the most important information.
- Explain any technical terms. For example, “You have hypertension, which means your blood pressure is higher than it should be.” Similarly, avoid using medical jargon.
- Try to use an active voice that emphasizes what actions the patient should take instead of focusing on what they shouldn’t do.
- If information is technical or complex, break it into shorter segments (use repetition if necessary).
Encourage Follow-Up and Ongoing Education
Learning is a lifelong process. Your duty is to continue to support and encourage your patients as they move through their healthcare journey. Patients who feel supported are more likely to want to return for ongoing education. Showing compassion and maintaining clear lines of communication are essential skills for nurses and should be used to encourage patients to maintain their follow-up care and continue learning about their health.
How To:
- Provide ongoing support to improve the overall patient care experience. A great way to start doing this is by understanding what resources are available in your community. These external support systems help bridge the transition between acute care and outpatient management.
- Check that the patient’s follow-up is already scheduled. If it’s not, provide clear information to the patient on who they should contact and how to do so if a concern arises.
- Leverage technology such as patient portals or apps to improve patient engagement.
- Review patient feedback and adjust future teaching techniques to better align with patient needs.
