Try these field-tested successes

Following are a few tried-and-true activities for Health Care Education Week that other health care institutions have found successful:

• Pizza parties for the nursing units with the best performance improvement for documentation of patient education.

• Poster contest between hospital departments, with each department creating a poster depicting their patient education efforts.

• Hospital display depicting patient education efforts of departments such as home health, physical therapy, and cardiac rehabilitation.

• Table tents announcing Health Care Education Week in cafeteria and bookmarks on patient trays.

• A patient education department open house with each educator providing a display regarding their specialty.

For more information on the above ideas, contact: Deborah Pfaffenhauser, RN, director of Consumer Health Information, Bayhealth Medical Center, 640 South St., Dover, DE 19901. Telephone: (302) 674-7099. E-mail: [email protected].

• Open house with refreshments in the medical and family libraries, highlighting their resources and services.

• A table display outside the cafeteria with games, drawings, and pictures of staff "education stars."

• Prizes, certificates, and awards for winners of the best in staff and/or patient education. Ballots are sent to staff, asking for their votes on who or what should win top awards.

• Notification to managers and physician leaders to let them know which members of their staff were nominated for patient education awards.

• Publishing the names of nominees for and winners of patient education awards in the staff newsletter.

For more information on these ideas, contact: Kathy Ordelt, RN, CRRN, CPN, patient & family education coordinator, Children’s Health care of Atlanta, 1001 Johnson Ferry Road, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30342. Telephone: (404) 250-2757. E-mail: [email protected].