How do you approach providing patient discharge instructions or patient education?

"Being a patient flow nurse, giving patients their discharge instructions is a big part of my job. Each time I am assisting with a patient discharge at the hospital, I review the written discharge instructions with both the patient and any family members or other advocates they have present. In these situations, I know, that most of the time, the patients are unable to understand and comprehend their aftercare instructions since they have been receiving inpatient care, so I ensure whoever is there with them fully understands the instructions. I do this because I know how important aftercare instructions are, especially when patients are taking medications and managing their ongoing conditions, and I want to be sure someone understands how they should be cared for."

"After each patient is seen at the clinic I work at, discharge instructions are printed automatically from the EHR when the clinician finishes up the visit. After the instructions are printed, I take them to the patient room and allow the patient to look over them for a couple of minutes. A few minutes later, I return to the patient room and ask if they have any questions about the discharge instructions, and if they do, I address the questions with them before they leave."

"Throughout my nursing career, I have seen many consequences, both minor and severe, of inadequate patient education. Because of this, always try to go above and beyond when providing patient education or discharge instructions. Such an example is when I was recently reviewing discharge and medication instructions with a young patient and her mother. The patient had been diagnosed with asthma during the visit and had been prescribed an inhaler for the first time. Rather than simply telling the patient and mother how many doses of the inhaler to take, I sat with them an ensured they understood what an inhaler was and how to use it. While I was providing the education, I found that neither the patient nor her mother understood how to use an inhaler, so this additional education was essential."

"Providing patient education is one of my favorite parts of nursing, albeit it can be somewhat challenging. Not too long ago, I was dealing with a challenging situation when I was attempting to educate a patient on how to take the medications that we were prescribing to him. As I was attempting to explain the medication regimen to the patient, I quickly realized that he was illiterate and would not be able to read the medication bottles or the discharge instructions that we were providing to him. So rather than simply verbally explaining his dosage instructions to him, I drew him a visual diagram of his new medication regimen and went over it with him multiple times. I was very sensitive to the fact that the man could not read and was careful not to make him feel inadequate, and before he left, he thanked and hugged me for helping him."

"Being a patient and family educator is one of my favorite roles as a nurse. As soon as I know I have a patient planning for discharge, I go and speak with them to determine their needs regarding discharge education. I then can also determine if they will be receiving the education alone or if they have family members they would like involved in the education. I then work to tailor my education to their needs and their preferred way of learning. I recently had a patient being discharged after a total knee replacement. The patient preferred to learn by reading and having pictures. She also wanted her husband to learn all of the discharge education and instructions too and she said he preferred hands on learning. I waited until the husband arrived and then went into her room with all of the discharge instructions and paperwork and thoroughly went through each piece and allowing time for them to ask questions before moving from one piece to the next. I also demonstrated to them both how to provide incision care. By the end of the education, they both verbalized understanding of the instructions and said they felt confident in going home at that time."