Liaisons allow communication between staff and education department
Eyes and ears in patient care areas improve patient education
Each month, the unit managers at Provena Mercy Center in Aurora, IL, schedule five minutes for patient education on the staff meeting agenda. Yet the patient education coordinator doesn't have to hurtle from unit to unit to introduce new materials or discuss patient education problems. Instead, the patient education liaison for that unit addresses the staff during the meeting, explains Rita Smith, MSN, RN, education coordinator for the health care system.
In addition to discussing patient education at staff meetings, liaisons at Provena Mercy Center make sure there is a good inventory of patient education materials on their units and answer their colleagues' patient education questions. If they can't find a resource or answer a question, they seek the help of the education coordinator.
Also, the liaisons work on special tasks identified by the education department. For example, the patient satisfaction survey given to all patients at discharge revealed that patients and their families wanted more information on the tests and procedures that were ordered. Therefore, the education department purchased pamphlets on a variety of procedures and asked the liaisons to remind colleagues to distribute the pamphlets and assist in teaching prior to a procedure.
Clear acrylic racks were installed in a visible place on each unit to prompt staff to provide brochures before each procedure and to make them readily available to patients and their family members.
"I can't be up on the units at all times. It's good to have someone on the floor overseeing patient education. They can remind staff about such tasks as documentation of teaching. They are my eyes and ears on the unit," says Smith.
While a liaison system varies according to the needs of each health care facility, the end result is always the same. It provides a communication link between patient care areas and the education department.
"I always have a contact," says Sara Swanson, health educator at Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle. "If we get new materials, I send a copy to the sixteen liaisons. If information on the patient education database is updated, I alert the liaisons. It's a benefit to have a contact person for new tools and announcements around patient education."
Key tasks for the liaisons at Children's Hospital include organizing patient education materials on each unit, assessing a department's or clinic's patient education resource needs, serving as messengers to staff for new patient education tools and systems, and facilitating communication between floor staff and health education staff.
When the patient education committee at Children's Hospital created a staff checklist on patient education to prepare for an upcoming survey by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the liaisons distributed the checklist at staff meetings.
"In the beginning we wondered how the role of liaison would mesh with the steering committee [patient education committee]. They really complement each other. It is made clear that the liaisons carry out the policies established in the steering committee,"says Swanson.
Half the liaisons cover the inpatient area and half cover the outpatient area. Those in outpatient areas represent several clinics called a pod. The pods can include several disciplines such as dental, optometry, and urology. If a practice within the pod isn't in the liaison's area of expertise, the liaison establishes a contact in that practice. (See related story on selecting liaisons, p. 87.)
"It's a challenge having the liaisons speak to the patient education needs of a population they don't really know much about, even though the system and the processes are the same. The liaison can't be the one to go through their patient education files. They need to work through the staff," says Swanson.
Providing a patient education contact who is readily available helps ensure that teaching will be done in a responsible manner, says Cindy Mullinax, MS, RN, patient education coordinator at St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta. The liaison program at the health care facility was established when patient education specialists relinquished much of the procedural teaching, such as cardiac catheterization, to floor nurses.
To aid staff in their new job duties, 12 education specialists became liaisons to various patient care areas in order to help staff develop patient education materials, find resources, and polish patient teaching skills. "The liaison duties are written into the job description for education specialists," explains Mullinax. The specialists also provide cardiac and diabetes education.
Liaisons keep in close contact with the representative from their assigned patient care area that sits on the nursing education council. These council representatives are also responsible for stocking educational materials in their patient care areas. "The council meets once a month, and after that meeting the representatives go to the supply closet to get the materials they need to restock their drawer," says Mullinax.
To ensure managers always have access to liaisons, a laminated card listing every liaison's name, phone number, pager number, and the area they are assigned to is posted in each clinical area.
When the liaisons aren't experts in patient education, it is important to work with them on a regular basis, says Smith. At Provena Mercy Center, she meets with the liaisons quarterly. The meetings last four hours and follow a workshop format.
During that time, Smith and the liaisons go over the patient education resources available on each unit and identify any new materials that are needed. For example, if there is a new procedure on a unit, they discuss the need for new pamphlets and videos. They may write patient teaching protocols or discuss ways the liaisons can address a problem such as poor documentation of teaching.
"At the beginning of each year I have the liaisons write goals and objectives for the year. This year they have been working on getting materials on their unit organized and creating an ordering process that is easy for everyone," says Smith.
Yet the amount of work the liaison completes is often related to the support given by management and the administration, says Smith. A new vice president of operations approved eight hours of paid time for each liaison to allow them to complete their work and attend quarterly workshops. For the meetings, the liaisons are scheduled off the floor for the four hours, and if it is their day off they attend because they are being paid.
To complete tasks related to their duties as liaison, they often stay an hour after their shift or come in to work early. They keep a personal log to track their patient education liaison activities.
"Before administrative support, the program wasn't that strong. Now that the liaisons are getting paid and administration is supportive, the liaisons realize the value placed on them to do the job and know that they need to be accountable for getting the job done," says Smith.
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