Patient education in subacute/snf

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Hi all,

Have any if you worked at s facility (subacute/SNF) that has an organized, helpful approach to patient education? Maybe a staff/patient educator combined role? Maybe sets of patient education resources (handouts, videos, etc) that are convenient, accurate, useful and address most of the common patient needs at your facility? Maybe also available in other languages prevalent in the area? I wonder how many nurses have time to do this again & again.

I have usually seen staff nurses having to reinvent the wheel time and again-- and wonder if there is a better, evidence-based, proven way.

I'd love to hear your experiences with this. Thanks.

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I guess the silence is itself as answer í ½í¸€

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Where I work, we are so busy trying to get the basics done...med passes, vital sign checks, blood sugars, TPN, JP drains, bladder scans, catheterizations, endless trips to the bathroom...that we have no time for patient education, let alone time to figure out a way to organize it. Which is sad, because I've always enjoyed the patient education aspect of nursing care.

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This is exactly what I've experienced, but I know there has to be a way. The patients are so sick & in need, and nurses in this setting have No time leftover from the purest necessities.

I was hoping some facility (or chain of them??) had decided that patient education might shift the stats on patient satisfaction & 30 day readmission rates.

I'm in school chasing my masters... I'm 99% sure my capstone project will be to create a staff ed piece along with an complete set of patient teaching tools (written, pictures, video etc) along with resources efc. If it works out, I figured I can pick one topic/condition/area of need at a time to address ....

maybe I'll find a way to make it better in some small way :)

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I find there is very little patient education in my facility. Yes, we are so rushed just getting the basics done. That will never end, but when I'm getting ready to discharge a newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic that will need to go home with injections and accuchecks and I ask if they are comfortable with the injections and they've never been taught or performed one I get a little bit crazy.

Education can be short little sessions with the resident or family over time. It doesn't have to be a big class. We have forms that we can document what education we provided the family or resident but we have no real program or materials.

This really is a need.

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Exactly-- a form to document education-- But not one single other tool available.. In a way, I wish joint commission of the states would start handing out tags for this (and for poor staffing!) then facilities /corporations with lots of facilities would put some effort here

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Specializes in EMS, LTC, Sub-acute Rehab.

Govt regs and oversight is what got us into this health care debacle, I seriously doubt if it will get us out.

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It may not be the cure for this particular situation (lack of patient education preparation in lots of subacute settings), but if may help.

i used to Complain about all the state surveys etc in my state, but a comment by a consulting wound doc actually made me appreciate the oversight. He said he has done wound care in 5 states -- and in the three states that had much less frequent DPH monitoring he *more then once* came across nursing homes that would have 5,6,10 nosocomial stage IV wounds. Here, if there is one it's a big deal, and if DPH finds 2 if 3 there are repercussions. Which there should be!

maybe the difference is not the oversight, maybe instead who is the corporate owner & how they translate 'mission and values' statements into action.

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Specializes in GENERAL.
Hi all,

Have any if you worked at s facility (subacute/SNF) that has an organized, helpful approach to patient education? Maybe a staff/patient educator combined role? Maybe sets of patient education resources (handouts, videos, etc) that are convenient, accurate, useful and address most of the common patient needs at your facility? Maybe also available in other languages prevalent in the area? I wonder how many nurses have time to do this again & again.

I have usually seen staff nurses having to reinvent the wheel time and again-- and wonder if there is a better, evidence-based, proven way.

I'd love to hear your experiences with this. Thanks.

Evidenced based schlorship aside, I have found that when dealing with the elderly it is important to remember to speak loudly and cleraly enough to these folkks to get your message across. ( lots of 'em have hearing aids but deniel or inconvienence relagates them to the bedside table)

Otherwise, you'll get the pat on the head, grasp of the hand, nod of the head, you're such a sweet idiot response.

These days, being half deaf myself from too much rock and roll, when I politely ask someone to speak up they look at me with a blank stare and decrease their vocal volume even more.

Some people ARE just low talkers, I guess. (yes, I do wear hearing aids----sometimes)

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