teaching plans

S.T.A.C.E.Y, LPN · Nov 18, 2006

Is it a topic of your choice, or for a specific patient?

One topic I did a teaching plan for was for a Newly Diagnosed Diabetic. LOTS of stuff to cover there. S&S of hypoglycemia, Insulin, Medication Administration, Use of Glucometer, what the results mean, etc. Theres SO much info for you to use too!

Achoo!, LPN · Nov 18, 2006

Coughing and deep breathing is a good one or Incentive spirometry. I am guessing you have a skills book that they would be in, or in your fundamentals book.

fleur-de-lis, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2006

I did non-pharmaceutical pain control. Very easy! Just teaching the patient about remembering to breathe deeply, giving suggestions on visualization and relaxation, and stressing that this is not tto substitute for pain meds, but use in conjunction with them, and that they should not wait until the pain is unbearable to ask for meds. This teaching strategy works with post-op patients, cancer patients, anyone with chronic pain. Good luck!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2006

hi, snoozieq!

there are four types of nursing interventions (actions):

assess/monitor/evaluate/observe (to evaluate the patient's condition)
care/perform/provide/assist (performing actual patient care)
teach/educate/instruct/supervise (educating patient or caregiver)
manage/refer/contact/notify (managing the care on behalf of the patient or caregiver)

i am sure that you are being taught these as you are progressing through your training. do you have a book to help you write care plans? you will find within any of these books interventions that say, "teach, educate, or instruct the patient [on how to do something]". pick something. if you are working with surgical patients, pick something that has to do with surgery patients; if you are working with pulmonary patients, pick something that has to do with patients who have lung problems.

if you go to this site http://www.medlineplus.gov/ (medline plus) you will find all kinds of interactive videos which were made for patients. take a look at some of the subjects that are there to see if some of them don't give you some ideas about some things that patients might need some teaching about and that interest you as well. check the website of a large local hospital and see what kind of patient teaching resources they have online. right now, educating the public about the flu and getting flu shots is in the media. if someone asks you "do you think i should get a flu shot?" what will you tell them? what can you teach them? if someone says to you, "my doctor just gave me a prescription for diovan? what can you tell me about it?" what will you tell them? what can you teach them? you will be answering questions and teaching things like this throughout your entire career as a nurse. for a school project, however, you should keep your subject specific and not too broad.

welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

SnoozieQ · Nov 18, 2006

Thanks to all that replied. My plan is looking OK. I decided to do pain management. My clinical instructor suggested this topic for my patient but it is hard to really implement as she is in a long term care facility and I most likely won't be assigned to her again.

Thanks for the input.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2006

oh, you should have said that in the first place! here is a link to a list of pain assessment tools for geriatric patients on the university of iowa geriatric education site. these tools are meant to be used in conjunction with assessing and teaching the elderly with regard to pain. i'm sure you'll be able to find something here that you can use for your patient. good luck!

http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/igec/tools/categorymenu.asp?categoryid=7

SnoozieQ · Nov 18, 2006

:imbar Thanks so much. Guess I wasn't sure I was going to use my patient and pain when I asked for ideas. This site will help a lot. Thanks. :)