Paragraph 1: The nurse has a responsibility to educate patients and ensure they understand the information provided. Strategies that can be implemented include considering the patient as a whole, addressing emotional, physical, and spiritual needs, and starting education as soon as the patient is admitted. Behavioral objectives should be consistently used to promote health and change unhealthy habits.
Paragraph 2: Nurses have many responsibilities during a shift, including the role of health educator. Individualized education can increase patient outcomes and should include addressing language and cultural barriers, ensuring the patient and caregivers are ready to receive information, and assessing the patient’s current knowledge and misconceptions about their disease. Assessing the patient’s willingness to learn and utilizing behavioral objectives is important to modify the approach for each patient’s needs and optimize outcomes.