What is on your bookshelf?
Reference sources for patient ed coordinators
Recently, we asked a few patient education coordinators what books they kept on their reference shelves. Following is a list of titles with an explanation of why they are invaluable.
Patient Education: Issues, Principles, Practices
Rankin S.H., Stallings K.D.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1996.
This book provides an in-depth review of issues regarding patient education from setting up programs to evaluations, reviewing materials or writing materials for patients. "It provides more theory and tools to use for patient education," says Diane C. Moyer, MS, RN, program manager, consumer health education at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.
Patient Education in Health and Illness
Rankin S.H., Stallings K.D., London F.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005.
This book provides an academic summary of the research in patient education.
No Time to Teach? A Nurse's Guide to Patient and Family Education
London F.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1999.
Information on how to apply patient education research to practice.
Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills
Doak C, Doak L, Root. J.B. 2nd ed.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1996.
Information on writing plain language materials and evaluating text for readability.
Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion
L. Nielsen-Bohlman, et al (editors).
Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2004.
An overview of health literacy and the implications related to patients, costs of health care, and clinicians educating patients about their health.
Measurement Tools in Patient Education
Redman, B.K.
Springer Publishing Co.; 2002.
Provides guidance on how to measure outcomes in patient education.
The Ultimate Guide to Competency Assessment in Healthcare
Wright, D.
Minneapolis, MN: Creative Healthcare Management; 1998.
"This is the very best source for guidance on how to measure competencies. If we expect staff to teach, we should check their competence. They may need better teaching skills," says Fran London, MS, RN, health education specialist at Phoenix (AZ) Children's Hospital.
Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults
Vella, J.
Jossey-Bass Publishers; 2002.
This book contains information on how to teach groups of adults.
Health Literacy: A Manual for Clinicians
Weiss, B.D.
American Medical Association Foundation and American Medical Association; 2003.
A collection of materials related to health literacy, often research-based. "I have found it good for pulling examples for presentations on literacy issues. It is a good overview of the complexity of health literacy and many of the factors that can impact a person's health literacy level," Moyer says.
Patient Education: A Practical Approach
Lorig, K.
Sage Publications; 1996.
This book is often described as the classic of disease management.
Kathy Ordelt, RN-CPN, CRRN, patient and family education coordinator at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, says the following two titles are not exactly patient education focused but are invaluable for helping patient education coordinators and staff learn to put the patient first.
Putting Patients First — Designing and Practicing Patient-Centered Care
Frampton, et al.
Jossey-Bass Publishers; 2003.
Through the Patient's Eyes — Understanding and Promoting Patient-Centered Care
Gertis, et al.
Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1993.
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