Patient education "cheat sheet"?

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Hi everyone,

I'm a second semester nursing student in a BSN program. I've participated in a few clinicals so far and have another one coming up soon (administering flu vac, vitals, pt education). One thing I've noticed that I struggle with is patient education. This includes topics such as healthy diet, how often to see their PCP, get their eyes examined, assessing for fall risk, etc. I find that my brain kind of freezes up and I just forget loads of info that I have studied. I know that I do better when I have more of a structured flow, like in ems we used acronyms for remembering what to ask about patient hx or assess for trauma, we haven't been provided any real structure for general patient education thus far. So I'm wondering if anyone our there has a "cheat sheet" so to speak that consolidates the most important topics to cover and perhaps organizes them in a way that makes them easier to remember. Any info or suggestions would be so appreciated, I'm tired of appearing, and thus feeling, much dumber than I am:(

Thanks!!

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

There are plenty of resources online. Some information you can request from government websites and get it for FREE. I'd say print some things off and keep them in your clinical notebook to have for reference.

Diet:

Printable Materials

Eye exams:

Standard ophthalmic exam: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Different falls risk exams:

Common Screening And Assessment Tools -- Fall Prevention Task Force

If you're allowed to have your phone you can go to Evernote and develop a notebook with various "notes" of each topic. You can quickly search and find what you're looking for and you can access it via their app on phones or on a computer via their website.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

Oh and you get better/quicker as you do something more. You probably should be a little awkward at this point.

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Specializes in Surgery.

It takes time to get a "flow" to your routine. It took me a couple of years to get my own way of doing things. The greatest tool you have is observing other, more seasoned care givers. Not just nurses. Watch how other disciplines interact as well. Physicians, Respiratory care, Dietary. Then you will develop a process that works for you. Good luck.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

Remember, you do not have to tell all you know about the topic. They are not going to remember. Hit the high spots and get them to repeat them.

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