Patient Education, Advocate, Quality Improvement, and Evidence-Based Practice

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Question 1
Patient education ensures patients can care for their health outside the hospital setting. According to Williams (2022), patient education aims to promote health and well-being, prevent illnesses, and restore health. It equips patients to be in charge of their health and prevent or manage medical conditions. Paterick et al. (2017) state that patient education requires interaction and engagement between patients and healthcare providers. Further, patient education is facilitated by improved health literacy. Thus, healthcare providers must facilitate effective communication to ensure patients utilize information shared during patient education sessions.
The 27-year-old patient and the family must receive adequate patient education to facilitate the effective management of diabetes. The patient education should help the patient and family understand the disease process, as well as the information necessary for health restoration and diabetes management (Williams, 2022). This information includes lifestyle changes such as physical exercise, diet, medication and its side effects, and what to report to the healthcare providers. According to Paterick et al. (2017), patients with diabetes must engage in regular physical exercise, avoid alcohol and smoking, and eat healthy foods for improved health outcomes. Thus, the patient’s education should incorporate other disciplines, such as dieticians and physical therapists, who create meal plans and exercise regimens specific to the patient's needs.
The effectiveness of the patient's education will depend on the mode of learning utilized, adequate assessment of the patient's needs, and the patient's ability to learn (Williams, 2022). Different people have different primary learning modes, which include visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. The primary learning mode can be determined by observing how the patient responds to each learning mode (Williams, 2022). When assessing the patient’s learning need, healthcare providers must establish the patient's knowledge of diabetes and their past interaction with health maintenance behavior and self-care ability. The potential barriers that can hinder patient education include a lack of support, low literacy levels, and a lack of readiness to learn (Williams, 2022).
Question 2
I recently demonstrated the role of a patient advocate by connecting one of my patients to a social assistance program. The patient was unaware that such a program existed, yet they were eligible because they came from a low-income household. The program provided the patient with food stamps. Access to healthy foods was paramount to the patient’s full recovery.
If I was not there to advocate for the patient who needed the bariatric bed, the patient and the healthcare team would have been negatively affected. Morbidly obese patients require frequent assistance in repositioning and getting out of bed. According to McClean et al. (2021), these patients are at a higher risk of developing pressure ulcers and respiratory issues without frequent repositioning. However, a bariatric bed allows patients to move more independently, reducing the risk of pressure ulcers. If I was not there to advocate for this patient, the patient might have developed pressure ulcers or respiratory issues. The patient’s safety and health outcomes
would have been threatened.
Also, if I was not there to advocate for this patient, the nursing staff would have been overwhelmed with tasks, including lifting or repositioning the patient. According to McClean et al. (2021), staff members caring for morbidly obese patients often experience an increased workload and may suffer from burnout. Further, in the absence of adequate staff members, the available staff members may inadequately handle the patient. All these factors compromise patient safety.
In this example, the nurse's advocacy eliminated a potential legal issue for the nurse and the organization. Burkhardt and Nathaniel (2020) reveal that malpractice lawsuits arise when nurses fail to act as patients' advocates. Nurses must identify issues that threaten patient safety and act swiftly to address the issues. In the case of obese patients, the issue that threatens patient safety is immobility. The solution is to provide a bariatric bed to promote the patient's movement with less assistance.
Question 3
A quality improvement measure that the hospital has focused on is hand hygiene. Hand hygiene practices in healthcare settings are recommended because of their associated benefits in infection prevention and control. According to Hillier (2020), hand hygiene practices involve thoroughly washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Hand hygiene has been made a priority within the hospital’s QI department because hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) have become problematic. According to Monegro et al. (2022), HAIs are infections acquired after admission to healthcare settings, and one of the risks for developing HAIs is the healthcare organizations’ infection control practice. Also, HAIs are associated with the high cost of care for the organization and increased length of stay and mortality rates for the patient. Therefore, hospitals have a responsibility to prevent/reduce HAIs.
Currently, the hospital has implemented a hand hygiene QI to reduce the costs associated with treating HAIs and enhance patient safety. Hand washing stations have been strategically placed throughout the hospital for convenience. Alcohol-based hand gel has been placed at the point of care. Hillier (2020) states that providing healthcare workers with hand hygiene resources enhances compliance. The hospital’s leadership has also been keen on evaluating the effectiveness of hand hygiene practices. It has created an audit team to assess compliance and outcomes of hand hygiene practices. The audit team comprises auditors who assess, among other things, the length of nails and the presence of artificial nails among hospital staff.
Education and feedback on compliance are provided weekly during the morning safety huddle. An evaluation plan that involves audit, education, and feedback improves the frequency of and compliance with hand hygiene (Gould et al., 2017). The hospital also evaluates the outcomes by checking whether the rate of HAIs has reduced following improved compliance with hand hygiene practices.
Question 4
Evidence-based practice (EBP) involves using the current best evidence in patient care. According to Murray (2022), EBP management requires the use of the best research evidence, clinical expertise and judgment, and patient values to make clinical decisions. As such, healthcare providers in the emergency department (ED) must incor...