Volume 27
Number 22
October 28, 2016
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
`` Photo: Patient Education specialist Maureen Bonnell (r) reviews a patient education pamphlet with Kate Elliott, of Silverstein 8.
Where’s the beef ? Wendy’s snappy catchphrase dates back more than 30 years but it still sticks with people. And it’s easy to see why. It’s simply written and to the point. This is how clinicians should approach patient education, said Carolyn Cutilli, PhD, RN, Patient Education specialist. “We want patient education to ‘stick’ with patients and families. Marketing concepts can help us influence our patient’s behavior to improve outcomes,” she said. Like a marketer, “we need to talk with patients to learn what will get their attention and motivate them to make changes.”
INSIDE A Special Remembrance..........3 5K Raises Nearly $35,000!........3 Getting Home, Safe and Sound.........................4 Readership Survey....................4 Teens Less Likely to Select Beverages with Warning Labels..........................4
For example, let’s say a patient is readmitted more than once for congestive heart failure due to increased salt intake. When the patient is asked to set a goal -- what she wants to do when she’s out of the hospital -- she states that she wants to get to her granddaughter’s wedding. “To do this she needs to keep healthy. Now you’ve got motivation.” “The information has to be meaningful for patients from the beginning,” agreed Maureen Bonnell, BSN, RN, Patient Education specialist. “If they don’t buy in, nothing will happen.”
Tackling a Sensitive Subject Nurses often use written education materials for patients, not only for in-hospital use but also for patients to refer to postdischarge. “It’s also a way to provide consistent and evidencebased information, no matter who is doing the educating,” Cutilli said. But how the material is presented is crucial to patient understanding. Bonnell recently worked with the nursing staff of HUP’s postpartum unit to develop a pamphlet on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), a group of problems that occur if a newborn is exposed to addictive opiate drugs while in the womb.
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