Saturday, September 17, 2011
thoughts on words-beyond the written
the importance of connections can not be underestimated in the world of health care literacy.for those who are in the "non-print" world we as professionals must find ways to include and engage our patients with compassion and a non-judgemental attitude. we need to make the "invisible" "visible" and connect the meanings of the words to a meaning for the audience. the old adage "if at first you don't succeed" has life changing and life-sustaining importance to patients.
knowing our audience takes on special meaning when nurses provide important information to patients. we need to know the limitations, strengths, and support systems that individuals have. how we approach a teenager and a non-custodial or custodial parent, an elderly patient with symptoms of dementia and an adult care giver, parents of a non-verbal infant when the parents only speak German or Chinese, or an educated engineer familiar with jet-propulsion " there are no one-way guarantees that what we say is what is heard. perhaps that is why some of the new medical initiatives that connect patients across the health care continuum are so important. did the patient remember their reading glasses? did the parent show up 1/2 way into the appointment with the teen ager? is the dementia gaining control of the activities of daily living that frustrate patient and care-giver? these are all issues that influence how the important information nurses try to give the patient. BUT ultimately what is the information the patient and family need to connect with their everyday world of living? What can we change as health care providers and when do we adjust our expectations to fit the patient and family expectations?
knowing our audience takes on special meaning when nurses provide important information to patients. we need to know the limitations, strengths, and support systems that individuals have. how we approach a teenager and a non-custodial or custodial parent, an elderly patient with symptoms of dementia and an adult care giver, parents of a non-verbal infant when the parents only speak German or Chinese, or an educated engineer familiar with jet-propulsion " there are no one-way guarantees that what we say is what is heard. perhaps that is why some of the new medical initiatives that connect patients across the health care continuum are so important. did the patient remember their reading glasses? did the parent show up 1/2 way into the appointment with the teen ager? is the dementia gaining control of the activities of daily living that frustrate patient and care-giver? these are all issues that influence how the important information nurses try to give the patient. BUT ultimately what is the information the patient and family need to connect with their everyday world of living? What can we change as health care providers and when do we adjust our expectations to fit the patient and family expectations?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Images for Nurses
i encourage all nurses to search out images for the following:
Call it a Humanities Scavenger Hunt
Florence Nightingale Lady with the Lamp
The Scream
The Ghost Hunters television show-any episode of a haunted "TB" or "Insane" Hospital
Law and Order episodes that show how health care literacy goes beyond the patient into the world we all live in.
Over just one evening of television watching record how many medically oriented commercials you are exposed to including medication, medical treatments, and even foods
Watch the two movies to compare
The Fisher King and The Beautiful Mind
Read the Yellow Pages and the local newpaper's Health section
Read the newspaper or watch the news to see what medical conditions or excuses influence our everyday ?world. Are human images included and how do those images affect us? Do we share compassion or revulsion?
Is there a special health care literacy that would enhance or prevent issues that impact ourselves, our neighbors, etc?
As always these are just my personal thoughts about how we all connect. Such observations will show that health care literacy DOES NOT exist in a vacuum.
How do we as healthcare providers evaluate the truth and relevance of what we read and see? What is our responsibilities to our patients? What is our responsibility to our profession?
I believe educating patients can not be without keeping ourselves as nurses educated to medical changes, best practice guidelines, and always being educated in the expectations, needs, and capabilities of our patients in their current
Call it a Humanities Scavenger Hunt
Florence Nightingale Lady with the Lamp
The Scream
The Ghost Hunters television show-any episode of a haunted "TB" or "Insane" Hospital
Law and Order episodes that show how health care literacy goes beyond the patient into the world we all live in.
Over just one evening of television watching record how many medically oriented commercials you are exposed to including medication, medical treatments, and even foods
Watch the two movies to compare
The Fisher King and The Beautiful Mind
Read the Yellow Pages and the local newpaper's Health section
Read the newspaper or watch the news to see what medical conditions or excuses influence our everyday ?world. Are human images included and how do those images affect us? Do we share compassion or revulsion?
Is there a special health care literacy that would enhance or prevent issues that impact ourselves, our neighbors, etc?
As always these are just my personal thoughts about how we all connect. Such observations will show that health care literacy DOES NOT exist in a vacuum.
How do we as healthcare providers evaluate the truth and relevance of what we read and see? What is our responsibilities to our patients? What is our responsibility to our profession?
I believe educating patients can not be without keeping ourselves as nurses educated to medical changes, best practice guidelines, and always being educated in the expectations, needs, and capabilities of our patients in their current
continuing with reading etc
The wheel of Life A memoir of Living and Dying, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' autobiography combines the personal, the public, the political of her search for helping patients and medical personnel find common ground in what they need to know, what they want to know, what we as health care providers feel they MUST know and follow. The issues of our medical judgement surrounding "non-complience" makes health care literacy relevant to individuals. How do we as nurses "listen" to the verbal and non-verbal messages from patients? How do we as professionals combine compassion, caring, and respect of the patient in our expectations for the patient? In the end it is always about the patient and the patient's choice.
Perhaps in this world of quick MD visits and hospitals where the nurses are "never the same" we have to examine where trust and follow up takes place for patients.
As I examine more antodotal information and multi discipline research-I see time and purpose coming to the forefront. Equally important seems to be the comfort level of those of us who teach-both with diverse patient, the innformation we need to teach, and the goals.
Perhaps in this world of quick MD visits and hospitals where the nurses are "never the same" we have to examine where trust and follow up takes place for patients.
As I examine more antodotal information and multi discipline research-I see time and purpose coming to the forefront. Equally important seems to be the comfort level of those of us who teach-both with diverse patient, the innformation we need to teach, and the goals.
for me-reading and reading and oral stories
i have been fortunate in my life to always be around books and people who like books likewise it has been a blessing to be around storytellers. stories help place people in a time and place with a purpose. to all of my colleagues who question the relevance of the humanities in nursing-i suggest that the stories found in books, movies, paintings, photographs, theatre, and academic writings offer connections to our world. Those connections are important for literacy and therefore health care literacy because of how doctors, nurses, patients, family members, and others share their worlds. It is about knowing and most importantly remembering how we get to the life we are now living.
i would like to share a couple of books that may be worth reading-
Other People's Words, The Cycle of Low literacy by Victoria Percell-Gates. This book offers a poignant example of how health care can exclude rather than include the needs of patients by not recognnizing where they are and why. the reading offers a starting place for remembering why patients are where they are and not to be judgemental as we search for ways to connect
i would like to share a couple of books that may be worth reading-
Other People's Words, The Cycle of Low literacy by Victoria Percell-Gates. This book offers a poignant example of how health care can exclude rather than include the needs of patients by not recognnizing where they are and why. the reading offers a starting place for remembering why patients are where they are and not to be judgemental as we search for ways to connect
Sunday, September 4, 2011
placing ourselves in our patients' world
I have had a number of colleagues again ask "why do I need to know humanities? i am a nurse?
My response continues to be "we need to communicate with patients and families. Often they do not know medical jargon or they do not know how to fit medical information in their lives. Having knowledge of the humanities through art, history, sociology, history, psychology gives nurses, patients, and families points of reference for clear language they may (and I want to make sure we understand the concept "may")stress the importance of applying medical information to living lives.
We all need to understand the place we all find ourselves in the world of health care literacy.
Dean Schillinger, MD (of the teach back method) in his commisioned paper "Improving Chronic disease Care for Populations with Limited Health Literacy" in the Institute of the National Academis' paper A Prescription to End Confusion- prologues his wor with a quote from George Bernard Shaw "the problem with communication is the assumption that it has occurred".Within the same work Barry D. Weiss, MD's paper (also commissioned) "Outside the Clinician-Patient Relationship-A Call to Action for Healthe Literacy" addresses the interconnection in all aspects of a patient's life that are impacted by health care information. Health does nnot exist in isolation it exists in living.
Ultimately the choice is the patient's-everyone else can only provide reliable information and realistic expectations.
I am astonished that with the money spent on "clear language" much of the drug information is complicated and in very small print. It appears that we have much work to still do on how the text is presented and what the text presents at first glance. What the patient sees, remembers, and uses to facilitate THEIR healthcare remains the ultimate test of information medical personel share and explain.
My response continues to be "we need to communicate with patients and families. Often they do not know medical jargon or they do not know how to fit medical information in their lives. Having knowledge of the humanities through art, history, sociology, history, psychology gives nurses, patients, and families points of reference for clear language they may (and I want to make sure we understand the concept "may")stress the importance of applying medical information to living lives.
We all need to understand the place we all find ourselves in the world of health care literacy.
Dean Schillinger, MD (of the teach back method) in his commisioned paper "Improving Chronic disease Care for Populations with Limited Health Literacy" in the Institute of the National Academis' paper A Prescription to End Confusion- prologues his wor with a quote from George Bernard Shaw "the problem with communication is the assumption that it has occurred".Within the same work Barry D. Weiss, MD's paper (also commissioned) "Outside the Clinician-Patient Relationship-A Call to Action for Healthe Literacy" addresses the interconnection in all aspects of a patient's life that are impacted by health care information. Health does nnot exist in isolation it exists in living.
Ultimately the choice is the patient's-everyone else can only provide reliable information and realistic expectations.
I am astonished that with the money spent on "clear language" much of the drug information is complicated and in very small print. It appears that we have much work to still do on how the text is presented and what the text presents at first glance. What the patient sees, remembers, and uses to facilitate THEIR healthcare remains the ultimate test of information medical personel share and explain.
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