Health literacy is the ability to understand spoken, written, and numerical information. This allows the patient to make informed decisions about their health care, making them feel empowered to take control of their health (Eadie, 2014). Approximately 90 million Americans suffer from low health literacy, according to The Institute of Medicine, as reported by Eadie (2014), which leads to higher healthcare costs and poor health management of patients with comorbidities because they are unable to understand their choices. Being able to adhere to a medication regimen and follow instructions given at appointments is harder for patients that are not able to read or understand. Having families actively involved in healthcare making decisions is not
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A patient cannot safely manage their disease(s) without being able to achieve a certain level of health literacy. As health care providers, we can alter the way we educate patients to better fit their needs. Some examples of this would-be handouts with detailed pictures for patients who are not able to read. Another example would be writing prescription instructions out for the patient using pictures to show how many pills a day, and how many times the medication should be taken. Sometimes patients learn better by doing things themselves, so using the teach-back method is also helpful. Having the patient repeat the instructions given or having them bring their medications to the appointment to allow them to set their pills up in a pill sorter (until their next appointment), will also assist in managing their care plan with their assistance. With younger children, using the “show me” method works well with ensuring the child understand the instructions (Johnson, n.d). Having a diabetic child exhibit how he or she will administer insulin to his or herself is a great example of this technique. Also, recommending a family member or friend come along to the appointments so they can help the patient adhere to his or her plan will help ensure the information is not forgotten. Some chronic conditions have support groups available, which can be useful for patients …show more content…
Education of the health risks involved, as well as the proper and safe techniques that should be used with assisting and caring for sick patients who are unable to care for themselves, is important to the health of the caregiver as well. For example, in providing quality service to the patients, nurses in their daily work are at risk of occupational hazards, one of which is a injuries caused by the use of improper biomechanics of the body, such as back pain, back and neck injuries, muscle disorders, and inflammation. According to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, “nursing personnel are consistently listed as one of the top ten occupations for work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with incidence rates of 8.8 per 100 in hospital settings and 13.5 per 100 in nursing home settings” (Nelson et al., 2004). Most work-related injuries in nursing are sprains and strains, particularly back sprains (back pain). The cause is often due to static muscle work such as lifting patients. Many nursing tasks can pose a hazard if not done with proper biomechanics of the body, such as when lifting a patient, transporting a patient, and pushing heavy objects. Other activities such as “standing for long periods of time, lifting and holding patient’s extremities, reaching, vertical transfers of patient from bed to stretcher or operating room
A patient cannot safely manage their disease(s) without being able to achieve a certain level of health literacy. As health care providers, we can alter the way we educate patients to better fit their needs. Some examples of this would-be handouts with detailed pictures for patients who are not able to read. Another example would be writing prescription instructions out for the patient using pictures to show how many pills a day, and how many times the medication should be taken. Sometimes patients learn better by doing things themselves, so using the teach-back method is also helpful. Having the patient repeat the instructions given or having them bring their medications to the appointment to allow them to set their pills up in a pill sorter (until their next appointment), will also assist in managing their care plan with their assistance. With younger children, using the “show me” method works well with ensuring the child understand the instructions (Johnson, n.d). Having a diabetic child exhibit how he or she will administer insulin to his or herself is a great example of this technique. Also, recommending a family member or friend come along to the appointments so they can help the patient adhere to his or her plan will help ensure the information is not forgotten. Some chronic conditions have support groups available, which can be useful for patients …show more content…
Education of the health risks involved, as well as the proper and safe techniques that should be used with assisting and caring for sick patients who are unable to care for themselves, is important to the health of the caregiver as well. For example, in providing quality service to the patients, nurses in their daily work are at risk of occupational hazards, one of which is a injuries caused by the use of improper biomechanics of the body, such as back pain, back and neck injuries, muscle disorders, and inflammation. According to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, “nursing personnel are consistently listed as one of the top ten occupations for work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with incidence rates of 8.8 per 100 in hospital settings and 13.5 per 100 in nursing home settings” (Nelson et al., 2004). Most work-related injuries in nursing are sprains and strains, particularly back sprains (back pain). The cause is often due to static muscle work such as lifting patients. Many nursing tasks can pose a hazard if not done with proper biomechanics of the body, such as when lifting a patient, transporting a patient, and pushing heavy objects. Other activities such as “standing for long periods of time, lifting and holding patient’s extremities, reaching, vertical transfers of patient from bed to stretcher or operating room