Date of Last Review January 2012
SME: Chief Nurse Officer/ Director of Social Services/ Director of Pharmacy/ Director of Dietary Services
Members of the multidisciplinary treatment team provides patient/family education to enhance the patient/family knowledge, skills, and behaviors s/he needs to restore quality of life and make informed health care decisions. Patient/family education is initiated at the time of admission and, as needed, throughout the patient's stay.
An assessment is made (see below) regarding the patient's ability to comprehend the information being taught. This is documented on the Patient Education Sheet.
In the event that it is determined that the patient has not comprehended the information, staff will re-teach/ reinforce the education content as appropriate for the patient's condition.
Patient Education is incorporated into the Master Treatment Plan by the multidisciplinary team.
Education for patients/family must be based on assessment of their:
 | Ability to learn based on the following: |
 | Cultural and religious practices |
| Emotional barriers |
| Desire and motivation to learn |
| Physical and/or cognitive limitations |
| Language barriers |
| Learning needs including the above factors and skills/knowledge deficits |
Education includes instruction in the specific knowledge and/or skills the patient/family needs to meet the patient's ongoing health care needs, including but not limited to the following:
| Current health status |
| Safe and effective use of medication, if any |
| Safe and effective use of medical equipment, if any |
| Instruction on potential drug-food interactions and counseling on nutrition intervention and/or modified diets, as appropriate |
| Instruction in rehabilitation techniques to facilitate adaptation to and/or functional independence in the environment, if needed |
| Access to available community resources, if needed |
| When and how to obtain further treatment, if needed |
Patient and family education is important because it helps patient/family as follows:
| Facilitates the patient/family understanding of the patient's health status and health care options selected |
| Increases patient/family potential to follow the therapeutic health care plan |
| Maximizes care skills |
| Increases patient/family ability to cope with the patient's health status/prognosis/outcome |
| Enhances the patient/family role in continuing care and promoting a healthy lifestyle |
| Teaches the patient/family skills and techniques to aid in improved outpatient functioning |
| Encourages participation in decision-making about health care options |
Educational resources are selected and provided based on patient/family needs and include but not be restricted to the following:
| One-to-one presentations |
| Group classes |
| Audiovisual presentations |
| Pamphlets and patient handouts |
| Information on community resource availability and access |
| UTHCPC television Channel 7 (internal programming) |
Patient education is a component of the discharge preparation process, and instructions are included on the Patient Discharge Form.
The treatment team adapts the education to the appropriate age, culture, and language and individualizes it for the specific patient/family. The patient and family education process will be multidisciplinary, as appropriate to the plan of care.
The treatment team documents the education of the patient/family in the patient's medical record.
Such documentation must include at least the following:
| Assessment and identification of educational needs |
| The patient's ability to learn/understand the information |
| Teaching interventions to meet identified needs |
|
The patient/family understanding of the instruction or education provided |
Documentation
Nursing Services- Documentation of patient education is located on the Multidisciplinary Education Form and in progress notes.Initial education attempts take place within eight hours of the patient's admission.Reinforcing teaching (Clinical Summary Tab) for patients who require it occurs at least daily (day and evening shift) by the nurse assigned to the patient, and will be documented as such. Additional education (i.e., medications; disease process; discharge planning, etc), based on patient needs, will be completed.
Social Services - Documentation of patient education is initiated and documented by Social Services within seventy-two hours of the patient's admission (and as patient needs arise during the course of the hospital stay). The initial documentation about treatment expectations and discharge planning is documented in the Multidisciplinary Education note. Any further patient/family education will be documented in the Case Management note. Social Services will order and evaluate educational groups in the Order section of Sunrise Clinical Manager. Social Services Educational Progress Notes are part of the Psychosocial Assessment Process. Educational Progress Notes include handouts on orientation to 1) Program 2) Treatment Team 3) Group Schedule 4) Discharge and Post- Discharge Planning. The Case Management note will include education on aftercare resources and education of family and friends. The Social Services Progress Note will contain information recorded by Social Services Clinician, Pastoral Care, or Recreational Therapist and include information.
Pharmacy Service- Pharmacy provides patient information sheets with all discharge prescriptions. In addition, group medication education and anticoagulation counseling are provided routinely for inpatients. Both individuals and family counseling is provided upon request. All encounters are documented in Sunrise under Mulitdisciplinary Education.
The Joint Commission : Provision of Care , Treatment and Services
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