er nurses: what kinds of teaching do you do

suzanne4, RN · Apr 2, 2006

About everything. Use of medications, crutch walking, how ot take a child's temperature at home, signs and symptoms of different illnesses........and the list goes on and on. Every patient requires teaching of some type.

Trauma Columnist · Apr 2, 2006

We strive to do a lot of teaching. That isn't always possible though. We now must teach nebulizers, Lovenox, insulin, etc., all to newly-diagnosed patients. It is difficult at best.

brianaerrn · Apr 2, 2006

Fever control for children- i.e. use of Tylenol and Motrin:uhoh3:

CoolhandHutch, MSN, RN · Apr 2, 2006

Don't stick that in there. Ever.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Apr 3, 2006

Don't stick that in there. Ever.

:smackingf Lol.

neneRN, BSN, RN · Apr 3, 2006

Teaching with discharge instructions; how to relieve Sx/prevent complications/when to seek further care/med teaching on any diagnosis; wounds/lacs/infections/HTN/seizures/gastroenteritis/URI/UTI/STDs/Fx,etc...

Teaching for the admitted pts can deal with disease process/meds/S&S/prevention measures for a range of Dx; DM/COPD/A-fib/CVA/HTN/angina,etc...

We get a lot of pts with CVA Sx who don't come in to be seen until a day or two after the onset of Sx...lots of teaching about S&S and importance of seeking early medical attention; same for chest pain.

Altra, BSN, RN · Apr 3, 2006

Ditto to all those already listed above ... plus wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. :uhoh3:

analee23 · Apr 3, 2006

I work in a Peds ER, and it seems like we've just been seeing rotavirus for MONTHS, so it's pretty much the same thing over and over again. Tylenol/motrin dosing, oral rehydration, hand washing, checking a baby's temperature CORRECTLY, how to check if your child is dehydrated (i.e. making tears... etc.), when to come back to the ER and so forth. Also, lot of Lac teaching and fracture teaching.

Lots more, but I've just felt like a broken record lately with my teaching!

:uhoh3:

JMBM · Apr 3, 2006

Okay, first think of all the different things that could bring a patient to the ED - car wrecks, flu, chest pain, stomach upset, fevers, seizues, too much to drink, cut fingers, broken parts of all descriptions, depression, overdoses, hyper/hypoglycemia-thermia-calcemia-anything-emia. Think of all the different types of patients we see - senior, infants, every possible culture, language and level of consciousness. Next, understand that nurses do 99.9% of the treatments, admissions and discharges. So, about every patient gets some teaching about medications, med administration, activity, follow-up care, diet, hygiene, where to go to apply for benefits, work, school, jobs, how to get a bus. You haven't lived until you've tried to teach that elderly Hmoung lady who doesn't speak english how to use her newly prescribed suppositories. ... oh yeah, wash your hands, too.

susi_q · Apr 3, 2006

Amen to the above ... additionally I do a lot of teaching to the patient that turns out to be "nothing". They need to be reminded to not ignore symptoms next time, just because it was negative this time (of course, that changes a bit for the one that is there 2 times every day ... always with CP ... always negative ... that gets different teaching all together!)

Meds & allergies...cant tell you the number of times I've gone to give a med, and in the process of explaining what it is the patient says "oh yah, just remembered, I stopped breathing last time I had that!" (again ... that changes for the one that is "allergic" to NSAIDs, except for that one ... dilauda I think ... seems to work pretty well. - yes, I know NSAID allergies are serious stuff when authentic)