1. How often do you provide patient education? Daily, weekly, never?


2. How much time do you spend when teaching a patient?


3. What is your favorite teaching tool?


4. Do you spend more time teaching about medications or more time teaching about things such as wound care?


5. When teaching about medications, how much do you include in the teaching?

Too often, nurses are rushed whendoing the patient education.

I try to educate pt's all the time.It isnt always a big education session that seems to help them the most.It may be a simple, use ice for 20 minqid.Alot of things we as nurses take for granted as knowledge is not  common knowledge by the lay person.Any education is promoting health in people.

As a new nurse going straight to work in Pediatric ICU, my preceptor would make me explain every action I was taking as if I was teaching the patient/patient's family how to do everything and why i was doing it- it became a way of life and to this day I continue to do it- really doesn't take much time and patient surveys continually mention how much the patient/family appreciate it! And actually I bet many of us do it all the time and just don't realize it because we have become unconsciously competent at it!

Being a home health nurse the importance of teaching the patient is high on the list of responsiblilities. I always find it amazing how much the patient and or family member is willing to learn. Wound care is a big topic. Due to the insurance companies/medicare dictating the number of home visits it is imperative to teach and teach fast.